(Rodeo Ex) The Texas Unlimited Band (also known as TUB) have been playing since founding members Tim Langham (lead vocals, guitar, mandolin) and Steve Jatzlan (keyboards, vocals) started the band in high school. Along the way they picked up Andy Kubena (bass, vocals), Chris Skiles (drums, vocals), and JJ Soto (electric guitar, vocals). Rich Kotch contributes on steel guitar and Hank Singer on fiddle. They started out working any gig they could get, and after a time decided to hit the central Texas dancehall circuit. Within 6 months, as word about them spread, they went from playing to crowds of a couple hundred to 1000+. They've opened shows for national headliners that range from George Strait to Garth Brooks to ZZ Top.

TUB steps out on their own with their self titled disc, Texas Unlimited Band. How to peg their sound is the tricky part. It's not traditional Texas honky tonk. It's not the edgier Texas Music or alt-country sound that's most associated with Austin. This is definitely contemporary country, the kind that owes more to rock (or pop) than to country. And then again it's not. TUB falls comfortably into the country-rock category, landing at times somewhere between the harder, grittier sound of bands like Cooder Graw and the country-rock lite sound of the legions of Nashville's Eagles wannabes. I'll confess, I'm no fan of what's being called 'contemporary' country music these days, but there's something about these guys that is intriguing and sets them apart. Nashville poseurs are a dime a dozen, yet none has the musical muscle to back it up. The boys in TUB have both the attitude and the muscle.

Tim Langham is a strong vocalist with a decidedly Texas twang, he has a soulful quality that can handle the quieter ballads, and he can produce a whiskey drenched edginess on the harder rocking songs. The backing vocals of the band soften the edginess of Tim's voice that makes for an interesting contrast. TUB rocks hard with the driving "High Hopes," while the equally hard driving and outstanding "Breathless," as odd as it may sound, conjures up the urgency of a Meatloaf classic rocker. Two songs that do stick close to a more traditional Texas Music sound are "More Than That" which is currently climbing the Texas Music chart, and "Life Is Good." The disc only contains two ballads, "I'd Be Gone By Now" and "Careful What You Wish For." Both are enjoyable well written and well performed songs that steer clear of mawkish, overwrought, saccharine sentimentality. "7 Long Love Letters," "Ain't Gonna Worry 'Bout Love" and "Hard Times" are sturdy mid-tempo country-rockers. The song I found most intriguing (and is my personal favorite song off this disc) is "Leave It To My Love." This soulful mid-tempo song has an exotic and impossibly catchy melody and groove to it.

I should have guessed it would be a bunch of Texans that would come up with an unexpected sound. They take the more contemporary sounds heard on today's airwaves, replace the typical flyweight fare with some lyrics and vocals that have some meat, strip away the glossy overproduction and toss out all the smoke and mirrors. When they rock, they don't walk up to the line and whimp out- they cross it with confidence and rock hard. It's not hard to see why the Texas Unlimited Band has made a regional name for themselves. With the release of this disc, they've shown they've got plenty of potential, and it'll be interesting to see where that potential may hopefully lead them.

www.texasunlimitedband.com