Some bands, if accused of being AC/DC rip-off artists, might try to dodge the issue. But although Airbourne constantly faces questions about how much its hard-riffin’, bluesy sing-alongs owe to the original surveyors of the highway to hell, this young quartet from Melbourne, Australia, embraces the comparisons.

“We’re honoured to be compared to the world’s best rock ’n’ roll band—how could you not be?” says 24-year-old frontman Joel O’Keeffe, reached at a Motel 6 somewhere between Atlanta and Orlando after a van breakdown. “When you go to an AC/DC show, it’s what you live for—having a great time, stomping your feet, pumping your fist in the air, and having a drink with your mates. In Australia, that’s what we love to do. AC/DC’s on every jukebox.”

Mind you, Airbourne’s sound isn’t nothing but unfiltered Acca Dacca; instead, it continues a long tradition of lesser-known Aussie pub-rock bands like Rose Tattoo and the Angels. If you want to claim that these guys all sound the same, you might as well lambaste Stevie Ray Vaughan for leaning on the same I-IV-V chord progression Muddy Waters used.

On Airbourne’s Norther American debut, Runnin’ Wild, the title track’s relentless energy is a perfect example of what makes this group a live draw. Like most of the band’s songs, it features “Hey hey hey” chants and an insistent beat from 21-year-old drummer Ryan O’Keeffe (Joel’s brother), plus powerful, in-the-pocket rhythm guitar from David Roads. “His sound is like a chain saw,” O’Keeffe says of his fellow six-stringer, whom he met while slinging beer kegs and cleaning ashtrays at the Hotel Warrnambool. “When you stand in front of David’s cabinets, it just cuts your head off.”

If the frontman is to be believed, the group’s ceaseless gigging is broken only by exploits with fireworks, BB guns, and Jack Daniel’s. The charismatic reprobate also professes an affinity for Midnight Oil, Australia’s famous environmentally minded rockers. But don’t expect to find David Suzuki banging his head at Airbourne’s sold-out Vancouver show after O’Keeffe’s appalling explanation of the lyrical inspiration for “Too Much, Too Young, Too Fast”.

“Every time you turn on the TV news,” he says, “it’s ‘We’re running out of oil!’ or ‘The end of the world is nigh!’ Well, then just fuckin’ have the biggest party ever until the world does end! No point in worrying about it. Get a V-8, fill it up with gas, and put your foot to the floor. If you kill someone… Well, of course, you can’t do that. But if it’s an open highway, just you and a V-8 and rock ’n’ roll, go for it!”

Airbourne plays the Plaza Club on Saturday (April 19).