The Great Unknowns - Homefront (2012)

Female-fronted alt-country band The Great Unknowns recorded its first album in the basement of a college dorm in Boston on a shoestring budget, intending to press just enough copies for friends and family members. But the record found its way into the hands of Indigo Girl Amy Ray, who declared it "one of the best things I have heard this year" and released it on her independent label, Daemon Records.

The record sold beyond label expectations, and picked up glowing reviews from music critics who predicted that the band would soon invalidate the "Unknown" portion of its name.No Depression columnist Rick Cornell confessed, "I can't stop playing this disc", and named it one of the top ten releases of 2004. Maxim called it "unpretentious heartland rock."

The new Great Unknowns album, Homefront, which was funded by fans, proves that the band can pick up right where it left off--with expertly crafted, country-tinged rock songs driven by twangy guitar hooks and powerful vocals. And Homefront proves something else as well: that if a band is truly great, no matter how far they run from it, the music eventually finds them.