The Groobees' sound is truly Texas

The Groobees combine a laid-back style with phenomenal lyrics for a pop-country sound that is truly Texas.

The band, based out of Amarillo, Texas, has the talent of an all-star production, with the appeal of a friendly college band that just happens to be very good.

The Groobees latest release, Buy One Get Eleven Free, showcases the band's strength - its insightful lyrics about love, loss and everything in between. Susan Gibson, the band's lead vocalist, carries the bulk of writing credit on the album and is the band's ticket to fame.

According to the group's bio, The Groobees, named after a character on the TV show "Gumby," flirted with popular success with its first release, Wayside. Gibson wrote a coming-of-age song "Wide Open Spaces" while home during Christmas break in 1993.

Three years later, it was the first release off of Wayside. Loyde Maines, the band's producer, showed the song to his daughter, Natalie, who is the lead singer of the Dixie Chicks, which at the time was an up-and-coming country-pop group. The Dixie Chicks made the song the title track of its first record, which sold more than 10 million copies, propelling Gibson into the spotlight.

Maines had urged The Groobees not to sell the royalties of the song to offset the production costs of its first album. Instead, the song was published by Pie-Eyed Groobee Music, which is equally owned by all band members. Half the royalties from the song flow into the band's coffers, which goes a long way toward paying for the band's expenses.

The Groobees now have the luxury of producing the music it wants without having to compromise its sound or lyrics. That freedom is reflected in Buy One Get Eleven Free.

Gibson clearly does not feel any tinges of a sophomore jinx on her second effort, using unassuming lyrics that anyone can understand to describe life and love. She illustrates the range of emotions that love conjures by juxtaposing the starry-eyed love ballot "Cloud Nine" and "Sorry Jack," a strong woman's defense of her independence.

By far my favorite track is the tongue-in-cheek "My Best Feature," which is your average woman's attempt to explain her best attribute to a prospective mate. After noting she's not the best at anything, it's clear that the singer's best feature is her sense of humor and level-headedness. Gibson's song captures the idea that nothing is more attractive than an independent woman who isn't afraid to admit that she can be vulnerable and isn't less of a woman for it.

Gibson wrote or co-wrote 12 of the 16 tracks on the record and produced the band's best work. She is talented and her flair for writing allows a good group of musicians to form a great band.

The Groobee's sound is definitively pop-country and is straight from the heart. If you're looking for great musicians who let their instruments do the singing, skip Buy One Get Eleven Free. But if your searching for songs filled honesty, depth and the full gamete of human emotions, that is absent in a lot of today's music, then you'll know The Groobees are the best thing to come of Texas since Dr. Pepper.