They're loud, tough, and talented - with an accent, and an attitude.

The Vines, in other words, have all the ingredients needed for rock stardom, including a critically acclaimed, hard-hitting debut disc (“Highly Evolved)” on a major label (Capitol Records).

The four-man band from Sydney, Australia - which will play the inaugural concert at a new Perrysburg rock club called The Mission on Tuesday night - have an edgy, aggressive sound with enough melodic magic and psychedelic angles to defy labels.

Critics have worn out their rock encyclopedias, flipping through pages in search of musical reference points. Poring over reviews of “Highly Evolved,” the musical comparisons span a wide range of eras and styles: the Kinks, Nirvana, the Strokes, the Beatles, the Buzzcocks, the Hives, Stone Temple Pilots, Supergrass, the Raspberries, Velvet Underground, and the Stooges.

“It's fine,” said bassist Patrick Matthews. “I mean, it's really not fair ... I always thought we sounded tougher than the Kinks, and tougher than the Beatles. I guess we sound sort of similar to Nirvana, but maybe a bit more goofy than Nirvana.”

Matthews, sounding as if he had just awakened for an early afternoon interview last week from Philadelphia, said he and lead singer-songwriter Craig Nicholls met while working at a McDonald's during high school.

“Craig and I both played guitar and we liked bands like Nirvana,” he said, but it took a while before they took their music seriously.

“It was really informal,” Matthews said, “not like we were in a band. We used to jam together. We got a drummer and played songs that were pretty easy to learn. We didn't have a name for years and years.”

They eventually named themselves after the Vynes - an obscure Australian rock band that featured Nicholls' father on guitar and vocals.

Joined by original drummer David Olliffe, the musicians began taping their songs on Nicholls' four-track recording machine “just to sort of see what Craig could do,” said Matthews, 26.

Nicholls has said the Vines' musical style can be credited to the musicians' good taste. “It's not too intellectual, it's too meat-headed. It's somewhere in between,” he told one interviewer.

The group's first public appearance - long before they had a name - “was up the road at a friend's 18th birthday party in the neighborhood,” Matthews recalled.

It was an unforgettable debut.

“There was trouble there,” Matthews said with a chuckle. “A really large fight started. They asked us to keep playing, but by then Craig had already blown out his amp.”

Nicholls, the lead singer who writes almost all of the Vines' songs, is clearly the creative force behind the band.

Music magazines have portrayed the 24-year-old artist as a difficult genius, troubled and unpredictable.

The description is pretty accurate, Matthews said.

“Yeah, yeah, he's unusual and eccentric. He smokes a lot of pot.”

When the Vines landed a coveted spot on Late Night with David Letterman, Nicholls ended a raucous performance of the song “Get Free” by throwing his guitar perilously close to Rosser's head, prompting Letterman to jokingly ask if the singer was suffering from West Nile Virus.

The group - with Ryan Griffiths on guitar and Hamish Rosser, who replaced Olliffe, on drums - went into the studio with producer Rob Schnapf and recorded “Highly Evolved” at Los Angeles' famed Sunset Sound Factory.

The Vines taped about 30 songs, Matthews said. Nicholls tried to get Capitol to release a double-disc for the debut album but was turned down despite the major industry buzz.

It Aussie rockers earned raves for its cover of the Beatles' “I'm Only Sleeping” featured in last year's Hollywood movie I Am Sam starring Sean Penn and Michelle Pfeiffer.

“I don't know if that really helped,” Matthews said. “Maybe it helped among people who really follow music. But it came out and no one even realized we were an Australian band.”

The hype was cranked up a few notches when the band appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone in September.

Despite the rapid climb and fast-growing audiences, the Vines aren't exactly rolling in the green, according to Matthews. “We're still not making any money,” he said. “We're just touring to sell records.”

He said he likes to see the sights when he's on tour, although he doesn't always manage to do so.

“Today, I'll probably go out and buy a jacket or something,” Matthews said.

Opening the concert is the Music, a group from Leeds, England, whose debut disc entered the British charts at No. 4 and is due for release stateside in February. The four-person band, which has opened for Oasis, Coldplay, and New Order in England, is making its first U.S. tour.

Doors open at 8 p.m. for Tuesday's concert, which marks the grand opening of the Mission.

The club, located in the former Dixie Electric Company and later Casper's nightclub, 12615 Roachton Rd., Perrysburg, is owned by Anthony Makes, a longtime concert promoter who plans to keep a busy musical schedule at the 1,500-plus venue.

“It's always been my ultimate goal to have my own venue,” Makes said. “It makes it easier in every way to put on concerts.”

He is hoping to put on about 20 concerts per month.

“When I make money on the bigger concerts, I can afford to take risks on the smaller shows,” Makes said.

Among the upcoming concerts at the Mission are Ekoostik Hookah on Wednesday, a local showcase on Friday, a dance party on Saturday, and the Pennsylvania rock band Live on Dec. 7.

Tickets are $15 for Tuesday's concert by the Vines and the Music. Information: 419-874-8999 or www.missionconcerts.com. Tickets are available at Boogie Records and Ticketmaster.