The Eli Young Band is on an extended roll. The country-pop quartet spent three solid years supporting national debut Level, which caught the attention of radio programmers around the country and spawned the group's first charting single, "When It Rains." Heavy video rotation on CMT and GAC plus a particularly devoted fan base also sparked a heated major-label pursuit. The band signed with Universal Records South earlier this year, and new album Jet Black & Jealous hits stores today — just 10 days before the band makes its third straight ACL Fest appearance.

Though still safely in their 20s, the Eli Young Band boasts a set of very familiar faces on the Texas music scene. Mike Eli and James Young met at the University of North Texas and started as a duo before eventually adding classmates Jon Jones (bass) and Chris Thompson (drums). While still in school, the newly constituted Eli & Young Band band self-released an eponymous EP that included early fan favorites "Guardian Angel" and "Drive Away." Another EP followed in 2004, leading Nashville's Carnival Recording Company to sign the band (now without the &) to a songwriting and recording deal.

While "When It Rains" has became the band's signature tune, it wasn't what originally garnered airplay for Level. The feel-good "Small Town Kid" spent months in heavy regional rotation and generated the band's first music video. But as I noted upon Level's release, "When It Rains" is more complex and rewarding song, and its broken-heart angle is more emblematic of the band's overall thematic approach.

Even though it reached #34 on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart in 2007, "When It Rains" returns as the lead track on Jet Black & Jealous. New standouts include "Guinevere" and "Enough Is Enough," plus eminently radio-friendly tracks "Always the Love Songs" (a "Small Town Kid" redux that's already climbing up the airplay charts) and "Radio Waves."

Produced by Mike Wrucke and Frank Liddell — the team behind Miranda Lambert's Crazy Ex-Girlfriend — Jet Black & Jealous features an incredibly polished sound that should help the Eli Young Band broaden its national appeal while serving as a rootsier substitute for fans outgrowing Rascal Flatts.

The Eli Young Band plays on the Austin Ventures stage Friday, Sept. 26 at 6:30 p.m.

Listen:

"Guinevere"

"Enough Is Enough"

"Always the Love Songs"

"Radio Waves"

Buy:

Lone Star Music, Amazon, iTunes