The kids are alright.

British sensations The Subways [ tickets ], so young you could practically smell baby powder wafting from the front of the stage, electrified a huge crowd Thursday night (3/18) at Stubb's with their brand of high-energy rock and roll.

The fledgling band has been heaped with both praise and scorn during its short existence, with cynics stamping the London-based trio, perhaps unfairly, with a "just another guitar band" label. Judging by their SXSW performance here, the truth might be a little more complex.

The Subways are not strikingly original in any sense (rather than outfits like The Strokes they're typically compared with, The Subways' most obvious influences are probably Nirvana and Oasis), but singer/guitarist Billy Lunn and compatriots make up for in sheer enthusiasm and effort what they may lack in innovation.

What they are all about, in fact, is playing at being Rock Stars. You can watch this process happen on stage before your eyes, but the band is already surprisingly adept in its current form.

Lunn's Cobain-esque guitar work is nothing fancy, but certainly gets the message across, even if the message is mostly "Go! Faster!" And like any young rock Dionysus in training, Lunn has his tentative moments, like the subtle incident Friday when he strolled to the center of the stage and indulged himself in a preening guitar solo before seemingly realizing he'd stepped into the realm of cliche and slinking away sheepishly back toward his mic.

Bassist Charlotte Cooper, on the other hand, has no qualms about being the center of attention. With her mini-skirt, sparkly shoes and bobbing mane of blonde hair, Cooper works the stage like a whirling dervish, flailing both body and instrument about with utter abandon, which when combined with drummer (and Lunn's younger brother) Josh Morgan's muscular beats and thrashing mess of long hair creates a striking visual counterpoint to Lunn's workmanlike guitar icon.

The band worked its way deftly through most of its debut album, "Young for Eternity," closing with its most recognizable song, "Rock and Roll Queen," which was featured last year on an episode of "The O.C." The Subways' music was clearly demonstrated to be snappy and extremely palatable, leaving no unpleasant aftertaste,

The band's performance was not lacking in a few missteps, however, suggesting that the learning curve for becoming Rock Stars is steeper than it might appear at first glance. Lunn threw a few too many "HELLO AUSTIN"s into the mix, and his frequent scaling of the scaffolding came off as a bit showboatish.

Despite those few shortcomings, the Subways offer a winning formula. Like kids playing cowboys and Indians, The Subways are all gangly energy and limbs akimbo; they never seem to get tired and can run around longer than you can, and--ultimately--they're going to win.