It seems every age group wants to align itself with another. The young wish for the wisdom and respect of age while the old pine for the flexibility and opportunity of youth. Nobody is happy with where they're at and you hear those hackneyed maxims people use to bullshit themselves, like "age is only a number," or "30 is the new 20."

And though acting your age isn't the first thing that pops in your head when someone mentions rock ‘n' roll, musicians on either end of the timeline are particularly susceptible to this deluded thinking.

But within the charade where teenagers flash fake IDs and middle-aged bald guys burn rubber in sports cars I have found an exception to this phony self-assurance, a decade of confidence and acceptance. A 10-year period full of pride for what has been done and the thrill of not knowing what's coming next: the 40s.

Strangest Angels' Dave McGrath (lead vocals, guitar) and Joe Kaltenbach (vocals, guitar) are both 40 - that's right, middle aged, used, halfway to eternity. Yet you will never hear them spout something stupid about 40 being the new 30. Forty is 40.

Kaltenbach kicked around Rochester in the '80s with bands like Border Patrol, Mr. Grinch, and a brief stint in Claude Rains before moving to New York City to rock phallicly with Rock Hard Rooster and Fighting Cocks (the latter of which he took to England on a development deal with Chrysalis). He's been around.

Kaltenbach moved back to Rochester in 2005 and is the vice president of Post Central, Inc., where he is involved in movie scoring and music supervision. He did the entire score to last year's "Cherry Crush" and has two more features lined up for 2008.

But with the Zen of 40 comes the allure of rock 'n' roll. Kaltenbach was satisfied career-wise but...

"There was something - beer drinking, shit kicking - still inside me," he says. It was time to put together a band again.

"I didn't want to sing anymore," he says. "I wanted to get back to a four-piece, plug American guitars into tube amps, turn them up and play. And I didn't want to front the band on my own. I knew that out there somewhere I'm either gonna find a kid that I can produce and write for or I'm gonna get someone."

Enter singer/songwriter Dave McGrath.

"I was in the market for a rock band," says McGrath. "But it was frustrating keeping a band together. I said, ‘If somebody else has the band ready to go and I can step in as a side project, that'd be cool."

Kaltenbach stumbled upon McGrath as he played for the exiting crowd at The Black Crowes show last year at the Main Street Armory.

"He had the voice of an angel and confidence," Kaltenbach says.

With Will Young on bass and Chris Cornish on drums, Strangest Angels came together quickly.

Kaltenbach and McGrath's personality dynamics work well within the group. The velvety-voiced McGrath is a good-looking, soft-spoken cat. Even in the heat of a rabid strum, he comes off pleasant and unruffled. Kaltenbach, on the other hand, has the rapid fire delivery of a chain-smoker who just quit, trying to get out of a speeding ticket. He is hysterical and profane with a voice that is part Barry White, part cement mixer.

"We met up for our first audition or practice or whatever you wanna call it," says McGrath, "and it just kinda gelled right from the beginning." You can hear the Zen of 40 in his voice.

"It's like 25 years in the making to start all over again," he says. "We've proven it over and over. Now we're just doing it because we love it."

The band is still in its embryonic stage, having only played a few shows, including a recent gig at The Retreat. Its four-song demo - banged out in McGrath's basement - hints at where the band is coming from and where it's headed. There will always be room for strong, song-based rock music at joints where beers get poured down throats of all ages. Strangest Angels play with heaps of attitude, but the band doesn't come off all that cocky.

"It's a quiet cocky," Kaltenbach says.

Myspace.com/strangestangels