Check This Out: The 21st Century Fugitives

A rock band made up of Galvin Middle School students is competing in an online battle of the bands style contest that could win as much as $5,000 for their school’s music department.

Each year, the National Association of Music Merchants holds the School Jam USA contest for teen musicians. Eight finalists will get prizes that include money for their school music departments, with the eventual winning band bringing the $5,000 prize back to its school. The contest was noted in one of Galvin's news and announcement emails last week.

People can vote for Wakefield’s 21st Century Fugitives at this link on the School Jam USA website, although it requires a user name and password to do so. According to the band’s page on the School Jam USA contest website, members are John Lucas on vocals, Jimmy Bezreh on guitar, Gavin Burke on drums, Jackson Kehoe on keyboards and Jaden Mandola on bass. 

The band of middle schoolers covers classic rock, hard rock and metal classics that in some cases might be almost as old as all of its members combined.

A look at their videos on Youtube turns up songs like “Crazy Train” by Ozzy Osbourne, “Paradise City” by Guns ‘N Roses, “Helter Skelter” by The Beatles, and  “Ring of Fire” by Johnny Cash. They even do a cover of “Balls to the Wall” by the fairly obscure ‘80s German metal band Accept. Some of their Youtube videos – two cover songs and an original - can be seen up above as well.