The kids are all right: Why do these local teen musicians love their parents’ classic rock?

To watch Pompano Beach-based cover band Unravel resuscitate a classic tune like AC/DC’s “Highway to Hell,” all snarling vocals, flailing hair and swagger, is to witness rock ‘n’ roll at its essence — when the music was about rebellion and passion and the audacious joy of playing it for a crowd. The bass player is 13.

At a time when there are no rock bands near the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart, young people across South Florida are doing deep dives into the classic rock of their parents, sometimes grandparents, and performing in bars and on festival stages across the region. 

Yes, they can talk to you about their favorite song by J. Cole, Kendrick Lamar and Billie Eilish, but as performers, their heart is with Led Zeppelin, Rush, Van Halen and Pat Benatar. 

It feels good performing these 50-year-old jams, “remembering what my dad would play in the car,” says Unravel’s lead vocalist, Sophia “Cipher” Phillips, 16.

“When I was getting into middle school, my dad started introducing me to AC/DC and Metallica. You know, all the super popular stuff. I kind of, on my own, ventured out and started listening to more and I realized that I really had a liking for rock music,” Cipher says.

Unravel will be among eight bands taking part in a free Battle of the Bands concert at 7 p.m. Friday at Mizner Park Amphitheater in Boca Raton. Competitors will face off in two categories — one for performers younger than 20, and one for those 20 and older — with a $2,500 cash prize for the winner in each group.

The four members of Unravel met through School of Rock in Pompano Beach, performing with the prestigious house band touring ensemble. They’ve turned rock music into a door that opens into learning other genres of music.

Dylan Simonson, 16, picked up the guitar because of Eddie Van Halen, but likes to explore the role of bandleader in the work of jazz titan John Coltrane. Best friend Casey Burt, 18, Unravel’s drummer and elder statesman, is on a similar quest.

“Like everybody else in this room, I’ve grown more tasteful. When I just liked rock, it really stunted my growth. I started listening to complex things like jazz, and I started reading all this difficult music,” Casey says, citing Miles Davis and drummers Lenny White, Larnell Lewis and jazz-influenced rock god Neil Peart of Rush.

The band’s energetic 13-year-old bassist and singer, Antonia “Anto” Albornoz of Weston, got a head start in music in more ways than one. Her father, Andrés Albornoz, whose production company recently staged the world tour by global superstar Bad Bunny, introduced her to music very early.

“My dad told me he would put headphones on my mom’s belly and he would [play], like, Rammstein and hard metal. And I was like, ‘Oh, OK, so that’s where I got it from,’ ” she says, laughing.

Speaking during a recent Unravel rehearsal at Markee Music in Deerfield Beach, the native of Bogota, Colombia, recalls watching music videos from the 1970s and ’80s with her parents and grandparents.

“Just thinking, like, that happened once. And we’re doing it now, onstage, [capturing] that ‘esencia,’ you know? The beginning of it,” she says.

Unravel has more than 200 songs in its arsenal, everything from “Carry On Wayward Son” (Kansas) and “Tom Sawyer” (Rush) to “Love Shack” (The B-52s) and “Bodies” (Drowning Pool).

They also do a memorable version of Rage Against the Machine’s “Killing in the Name,” removing the opening F-bomb in the refrain, as Anto on vocals yells, “Shut up, I won’t do what you tell me!” She’s 13, after all. 

For information on Unravel, visit Instagram.com/unravel.band.

THE EVENT

Unravel will be competing in the younger category along with The Borin Brothers from Boca Raton, Midnight3 of Parkland and Miami’s Nothing Wrong with Wet Socks.

Each is unique: A Borin Brothers show is typically almost all original songs. Midnight3 is a sister trio raised on Christian music who also love Mötley Crüe. Wet Socks closed their first show in December to a crowd of teenagers waving their arms to “Freebird.”

The older performers at Battle of the Bands include 212 Degrees from Coral Springs-Pompano Beach, Leave it to Us from Fort Lauderdale, Miami’s Ryan Cooper Band; and vocalist Jass, a frequent visitor with relatives across South Florida. 

The event will also include the Young Entrepreneurs Market, from 6 to 9 p.m., for vendors age 13 to 20. Food and beverages will be available for purchase inside the venue (no outside food, beverages, or pets permitted). And while bringing blankets and chairs is encouraged, there will be chairs available to rent ($5). Doors open at 6 p.m., and admission is free. For more information, visit MiznerAmp.com.

The younger acts at Battle of the Bands, of course, play with varying degrees of polish. But they all boast a critical thing that older performers can lose over time, says Elijah Leano, 16-year-old drummer for Nothing Wrong With Wet Socks. 

“We’re not afraid to show everyone that we’re having fun. I think people like bands with personality, and being true to ourselves,” he says. “Obviously, by the way we play, you can tell that we’re dedicated to our instruments, but we just want to show everyone how much of a good time we’re having.” 

THE OTHER YOUNG BANDS

Here’s a look at the other young performers who will be onstage at Battle of the Bands. The interviews below have been edited for clarity and brevity. 

MIDNIGHT3, PARKLAND

The band: Selena Bronkhorst, 21, is the drummer and a student at Palm Beach Atlantic University with sister Bella, 18, the lead guitarist. Younger sister Layla, 15, is the lead vocalist, bassist and pianist. 

Behind the music: Selena was a freshman at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in 2018 when the Valentine’s Day shooting claimed 17 lives, including a couple of her friends. She and her sisters were homeschooled after the tragedy, and they turned to music as a way to heal. They still consider making music together a form of therapy. “We use it to cope whenever we feel stressed or anxious,” Selena said in an interview. Their parents — U.S.-born father, Puerto Rican mother — raised them on a diet of strong female vocalists (Sade, Adele), dad’s country music (Kenny Chesney) and Christian contemporary music, which remains an influence. When Selena began taking drum lessons at Parkland International Music & Arts School, rock music became part of the family soundtrack. Midnight3 performed at Battle of the Bands in 2023 and has played local bars including Rudy’s Pub in Lake Worth Beach, Cheers in Fort Lauderdale and Jimmy Johnson’s Big Chill in Key Largo. Asked what makes Midnight3 unique, Selena said, “We have a great sisterly bond. We get told that a lot.”

Q: Who are your musical role models?

Selena Bronkhorst: One band that influenced us to say, yeah, I think we can do this as a three-sister band, is BarlowGirl. They’re a Christian rock band. We saw them play on YouTube and were like, what if that was us? The Warning is another three-sister band that we saw play and saw it was possible. 

Q: Which performers are always part of a Midnight3 set list? 

SB: Metallica. We really love to play “Enter Sandman.” And Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ on a Prayer.” The Cranberries’ “Zombie,” The Beatles’ “Come Together,” [the Eagles’] “Hotel California.” A recent one is Guns N’ Roses’ “Civil War.” 

Q: Why do you play music from your parents’ era? 

SB: A lot of the music today, for me growing up, I never really liked it, because it felt unreal. A lot of techno, rap and pop, I could hear that it wasn’t real, live sound. When I heard ’80s-’90s rock, I would be like, “That’s real and I want to play that.” When all of us play it together, we feel this adrenaline and energy, and I just feed off of that. When the crowd enjoys it and feels it, that’s when I feel it even more. 

Q: What is your go-to song to get the crowd excited?

SB: “Kickstart My Heart” by Mötley Crüe has always been the one to get my band and the crowd going. My sister Bella, she loves the guitar part, the intro. And definitely, for me, the drums. My parents always say it’s like a train on railroad tracks.  

Q: What is your favorite memory of a live performance? 

SB: It would probably be the last Battle of the Bands [in 2023]. I remember having so much fun. We were just so energized and so hyped, because it was such a big stage and we had professional sound men and light men and videographers, photographers. It was the biggest crowd we ever played for, and we were so full of adrenaline. So we’re excited to play again this year.  

For information on Midnight3, visit Instagram.com/midnight3band.

THE BORIN BROTHERS, BOCA RATON

The band: David Borin, 19, is guitarist and lead singer, with Daniel, 17, on lead guitar and Andre, 15, on drums. David graduated from Boca Raton High School and when he’s not working on music is training to be a pilot (their father is a pilot). Daniel and Andre are being homeschooled. Supporting players include pianist Nathan Taylor and Denis Lima on bass.

Behind the music: The Borin Brothers were raised in a musical family, with their mother and grandfather both gospel singers in Brazil. The trio are self-taught musicians, and a typical set includes nearly all original songs. This year, they’ve released three polished singles, “Leave It Here,” “Made a Mistake” and  “I Told You Everything,” their lyrics of heartbreak and yearning floating on the shimmering, synth-y grooves of your favorite early-2000s alt-pop. If you think three handsome brothers singing pop music inevitably invites a comparison to another trio, fear not. “A lot of our fans are from the ages of 14 to 17, so they are too young to even know who the Jonas Brothers were. Thankfully, we caught them at a good time,” David says. “But it doesn’t bother me either way.” 

Q: Who are your musical role models?

David Borin: A big role model for our music is Coldplay. Another two bands that we take inspiration from is The 1975 and The Neighbourhood. Coldplay, especially, they have such a positive, loving message. And that’s what we go for as well, being accepting of everyone and making everybody feel like they have a place in our community. … Their older albums, they’re so musically rich. They were doing something different at the time, that nobody else was doing. Their chord progressions and the way they were using the storytelling in their songwriting, I think it was so genius. 

Q: Go-to song to get the crowd excited? 

DB: I’d say, definitely, “I Told You Everything,’ because of the chorus: “She’s taking out pieces of my heart.” A good amount of people know that song around here. That’s a good song to get people going. That’s the song we’re opening [Battle of the Bands] with, actually. 

Q: Your Battle of the Bands set list will be all originals?

DB: We have one cover in there. It’s “Sweater Weather” by The Neighbourhood. That is a song that a lot of kids our age really like to sing. The chorus is really catchy. “Sweater Weather” is last, “I Told You Everything” is first, and then we have our new song that we’re releasing on Friday called “Butterflies.” It’s brand-new. 

Q: Favorite memory from a live performance? 

DB: We did a front yard show two years ago, we put a stage out and all that, and there was about 300 people that showed up in our front yard. It was basically like a block party, and then it got shut down by the cops. It was pretty crazy. We knew there was going to be a consequence for it, but we just wanted to have fun. 

For more information on The Borin Brothers, visit Instagram.com/theborinbrothers.

NOTHING WRONG WITH WET SOCKS, MIAMI

The band: Bassist Maximo Garcia, 18, just graduated from Florida Virtual School and plans to attend Miami-Dade College in the fall. Guitarist Logan Lopez, 17, graduated from Coral Reef Senior High School and is bound for the University of Miami. Drummer Elijah Leano, 16, is an honors student in the International Baccalaureate program at Miami’s Gulliver Prep, where he plays in the jazz band. At Battle of the Bands, they will have a guest vocalist, Anina Cueto, 19, a Coral Reef High graduate attending Savannah College of Art and Design. 

Behind the music: They all have performed at School of Rock in Coral Gables and with the program’s prestigious house band when it played Rock in Rio in Portugal in 2022, Summerfest 2023 in Milwaukee and a just-completed summer U.S. bus tour. Maximo, Logan and Elijah were with another band when they decided, spur of the moment, to create Nothing Wrong With Wet Socks to fill a sudden opening on the bill at a youth-music showcase in December at Pérez Art Museum Miami. Elijah is a member of the PAMM Teen Arts Council. The name of the band is an intentionally “goofy” non sequitur, chosen quickly and randomly, Elijah said. They call themselves Wet Socks. 

Q: Which performers are staples of a Wet Socks set list? 

Elijah Leano: We try to have as much variety as possible, so we’ll do some older alternative things. Maybe some of The Smiths, some Motown R&B artists, like Stevie Wonder. And sometimes we’ll throw in something fun that we like, modern emo artists like Mom Jeans or Taking Back Sunday.  

Q: Who are your musical role models?

EL: I really like Smashing Pumpkins, specifically with their drummer [Jimmy Chamberlin], because he has a jazz background and incorporates it with his rock drumming. I find that inspiring. I also like The Beatles a lot, because my dad raised me on The Beatles. Their evolution of music over time and how they don’t use instruments in the typical “standard or normal way” is inspiring. 

Q: Why do you play music from your parents’ era? 

EL: Nowadays, the most popular music will be all electronically produced, no real instruments. I think there is a connection that you don’t see as much between the performer and the listener. Instead of just pressing a button, I’m orchestrating the music for you. I think there’s something magical about that, and you’ll see it a lot more with the older bands. All these older bands we play, they have a feel that connects with the audience. 

Q: Go-to song to get the crowd excited? 

EL: One of our strongest is “The Distance” by Cake. First of all, it’s just a sick song, the dirty guitar and the laidback drums kind of marching forward. And, second of all, the fact that we love the song so much. You can tell when we play it, we’re feeling that music. We like to mess around onstage and engage with our audience. Us bouncing off of the audience, bouncing off of the song, bouncing off of each other, it really gets a great vibe going. 

Q: Favorite memory from a live performance? 

EL: It was our first show [at PAMM] and on one of our favorite songs, “40 hands” by Mom Jeans, Logan broke his D string. It was really rough, because we didn’t have an extra guitar, no extra strings. So Logan looked at what he had, dealt with it, and then … the final closer was “Freebird” and we had to try to re-learn that entire song, including that crazy extended solo, missing a string. The crowd got even more hyped by the fact that he was doing it without [the string]. From the second everyone heard those first [chords] everyone was standing up, waving their arms. … It was mostly teens, my age, maybe 70%. … I don’t think “Freebird” will ever die off. “Freebird” is “Freebird.” 

For more information on Nothing Wrong With Wet Socks, visit Instagram.com/nothing_wrong_with_wet_socks.

IF YOU GO

WHAT: Fourth annual Battle of the Bands

WHEN: 7 p.m. Friday, Aug. 9; doors open at 6 p.m.

WHERE: Mizner Park Amphitheater, 590 Plaza Real, Boca Raton

COST: Free

INFORMATION: Visit MiznerAmp.com

Staff writer Ben Crandell can be reached at moc.lenitnesnus@llednarcb. Follow on Instagram @BenCrandell and Twitter @BenCrandell.