The land Down Under’s roots are showing well

Ripping off the past is a time-honored rock ‘n’ roll tradition, and it was well in effect Wednesday at the Wiltern LG, where Jet and the Vines arrived with the “Aussie Invasion” tour, featuring neo-garage acts from the land Down Under.

Take Jet’s “Are You Gonna Be My Girl,” which was enthusiastically received by the youthful capacity crowd on this first of two nights. Its crashing, propulsive drums and bouncing bass are cribbed straight from Iggy Pop’s “Lust for Life,” which itself sounds an awful lot like the Supremes’ “You Can’t Hurry Love.”

Rather than merely lifting from predecessors, however, the Melbourne quartet proved to be masters of writing tunes you almost knew, even if you’d never heard them.

The players evoked the Rolling Stones, U2, AC/DC and even a dash of the Who with singer-guitarist Cameron Muncey’s Pete Townshend-esque windmills -- and that was all in the opening number.

With a little glam-rock swagger, Jet swung through 45 minutes of selections from its 2003 debut, “Get Born,” shifting confidently from up-tempo rockers to melancholy ballads. Demonstrating the depth of its roots, the band also offered “Sweet Young Thing” by ‘60s California garage group the Chocolate Watchband and the Arthur Crudup classic “That’s All Right, Mama.”

Indeed, though derivative, Jet was way more fun than headliners the Vines. Contrasting with Muncey’s classic rock-singer style, bed-headed vocalist-guitarist Craig Nicholls sported a feline yowl -- an interesting quirk that soon became annoying.

Songs from the Sydney-born foursome’s sophomore album, “Winning Days,” and other works were more original than Jet’s but often sounded like Nirvana’s more hookless moments.