Plunge's "Hometown Hero" arrived in the Designer Magazine offices with little explanation. It sat on a pile for near enough 3 weeks while we sorted duly through the new releases. Since the moment we heard the album's opener "Running Away" it hasn't left the stereo. In many ways the Baltimore 3 piece have just released an album which is classically timeless.

Fronted by future rock heart-throb Mike Rucocco, imagine an East Coast version of Ian Lostprophets, the band inhabit similar territory to Three Days Grace and at a push Hoobastank. Formed when they were just 12, they grew up on Def Leppard and Led Zeppelin (like us you may like to imagine them as a Hanson-styled Darkness, although that's probably far from the truth), and started playing around the nightclub scene from that age of 16.

Mixed by Jeff Juliano (Dave Matthews, John Mayer, Jason Mraz) it's clear that this is a songwriters album bolstered up by a blinding rock band. "Wasted On Your Love" is the male counterpart to female angst merchants Liz Phair and Avril Lavigne, "Hometown Hero" sounds like classic Pearl Jam, "Part Time Girlfriend" steps away from the formula and sounds like Green Day and "Ordinary Girl" threatens to head down the road named emo, only to walk back with a radio friendly rock hit.

Signed to European label Atenzie could do a reverse of Brit rockers Bush and become huge in the UK before they hit the big time in their native States.

Alex McCann