The 20s

Teens and 20s
By ESTEN HURTLE Satellite Correspondent
2/16/2007

Whatever you call it, the genre-defying music of the 20s will rock your world

The 20s is not a garage-rock band. It's not punk, either. Or hard rock. In fact, the band's sound almost defies any classification, and the band members embrace that fact.

"Whatever we are, I hope we continue to define new genres," said Nick Poss, the band's bassist.

Regardless of the band's ability to escape classification, one label does stick -- good music.

The 20s (previously known as the Roaring 20s) has a depth rarely seen in a teenage rock band. Each instrument seems perfectly placed, and each musician knows where and what to play.

The band's sound is reminiscent of Coldplay, but with harder guitar and bass.

The 20s consists of Kendal Osborne on vocals and guitar, Grant Nordean on guitar, Eric Pyle on keyboards, Nick Poss on bass and Peter Jenkins on drums.

This lineup took eight months to put together, mainly because Kendal and Grant attend Bixby High School, while Eric, Nick and Peter attend Jenks. Through a complicated web of relationships, they all met, and the 20s were born.

As with any band, the road to success is a rough one.

"When we first started, we really found out what made each other mad. We kind of experimented with that for awhile," Eric said.

Eventually, the band members resolved their differences to record the demo that got them into the Battle of the Bands. But there was one problem. The band had only eight hours to record the disc.

"We recorded from 9:30 a.m. until 5 p.m. The next day, we were dead," Kendal said.

The band's name also came from this rushed recording session.

Before the demo was mastered, the studio engineer wanted to know the band's name.

Kendal and Peter desperately searched their minds for one, trading ideas between classes at school that day, until they finally decided on the Roaring 20s.

Before that confusion, they attempted to choose a name from a list of comic-book titles. Less effective rejects included Publicity for the Corpse and the Stray Cow-Puncher of the Rio Grande.

No one band has been an influence on the 20s. Their tastes are just as diverse as the music they create.

Each musician's influences can range from Underoath to Radiohead, but they all work within the same musical context when they are together. If there is one band everyone enjoys, it's the 20s.

"We've found a really nice balance, where everyone likes our style," Kendal said.

The 20s rarely write songs together. Kendal brings pieces of paper bearing snippets of lyrics, chords and bass lines, and the other band members base their parts on what he's written. The band members agree that this massively speeds up the creative process.

"We can get the songs down really quickly," Grant said.

Occasionally, they will jam and work on songs as a group, but Kendal said that he finds working on songs this way a problem.

"I can't really do that. I write the music from the lyrics," he said.

To hear the band's music, visit the Satellite Battle of the Bands site at www.tulsaworld.com/satellite, or visit the band's MySpace at www.myspace.com/thetwentiesmusic.

For a relatively new band, the 20s play with a remarkable confidence and cohesiveness that many long-term bands lack. Expect to hear that strength in March at the Cain's.

"We have a lot of confidence in ourselves. Even if we don't win, we'll do well," Osborne said.

Win or lose, the 20s will rock. And more than that, they'll rock in their own way. You may not know what to call them, but you'll be rocking, too.

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Esten Hurtle 581-8336
Jenks senior
satellite@tulsaworld.com