I've been fortunate enough to catch Adelaide outfit Huckleberry Swedes a few times in the past few years, after so many reliable sources had recommended them. So the lead up to this release, the band's debut album, has been one of anticipation for myself and I'm sure for others.

The impression I attained from seeing and reading about the band, their success at Tamworth and their association with Bill Chambers (who often sits in with the group) was one of a more traditional country outfit. However, Suburban Dreaming arrives very much electrified, country in the same vein as '70's Rolling Stones, The Faces, or The Black Crowes, rolling along with classic blues, soul and r&b influences popping out everywhere.

Produced by Midnight Oil guitarist Jim Moginie and engineered by a live-in-a-room guru Mick Wordley, Suburban Dreaming is rich in sound and vitality, great guitar tones and vintage electric pianos help to colour the songs. But, beside Troy Loakes' incredible voice - he could easily take up a career as a white soul singer if the band ever falls - it's the songs themselves that take the spotlight in Suburban Dreaming. It's one of those great albums where every song reminds you a little bit of a classic, but not enough so that you can actually pinpoint which classic.

As the 12 tracks unravel, highlights just keep emerging - from the slow building drama of 'Will My Heart Stay on Track', to the sunny soul/pop of 'Small Cage Big Land' and 'We Farm Our Love, to the best rock song The Black Crowes never recorded 'Wild Peach Pie'. It's a mighty debut and one that should gain the Swedes the recognition they deserve as one of the country's most promising rock bands.

I have long been an admirer of the Adelaidean “Swedes”, and that admiration is further swelled by their first full-length album, Suburban Dreaming, produced by Midnight Oil's Jim Maginie.

The Swedes have delivered on their early promise in a way that shatters the mythology of the local music scene being little more than two-chord primal scream.

Blessed with an innate ability to play a vast range of (non-standard) instruments, as well as a vocalist in the Young/Kelly ilk and, more importantly, lyrics that are both audible and understandable, the Swedes’ Suburban Dreaming should certainly make an impact locally and nationally. If it doesn’t, I'll take to eating their God-awful vegetable namesake three times a week.

Lyrically resonant of John Cougar in his Paper On Fire days, Suburban Dreaming possesses that quintessential American folk/blues appeal, minus the gooey butterscotch sauce. Here, it is served up a tad more ochre and corrugated iron bluesy, which takes it out of the heartland and definitely into the aridness of our dusty backyard. Tracks like “Dust Storm Falling”, “My Luck is Changing”, and the rootsy “Somewhere By Sundown” afford this album an eerie, melodic hook, more reminiscent of early Neil Young productions than anything else produced locally.

With an album that is excellently packaged, written, produced and performed, the Swedes have not only broken through the wall of sound that is pub bash and thrash for no other sake than white noise, they have also given us dust-bowl refugees an album and band we can justifiably recognise and laud as our own, without having to go deaf into the bargain.

It’s always a bit of a gamble getting handed a local release to review. On the one hand I certainly want to help out local acts, but if an album isn’t really to my liking, it puts me in a difficult position - I can’t lie and say it’s good and I don’t want to annoy anyone by saying I don’t like it (Adelaide is, after all, a small town). Which is why it’s such a pleasure to be handed a release like ‘Suburban Dreaming’, because, with no bias or incentive whatsoever, I can say that it’s a wonderful, beautiful, stirring and emotional debut album and that Huckleberry Swedes are one of South Australia’s bands to watch.

It all kicks off rather innocuously with Dust Storms Falling, opening with gently strummed acoustic guitar and mellow piano before Troy Loakes’ impassioned voice peals forth from the speakers. Gradually the track builds up to incorporate gentle mandolin melodies, beautiful harmony vocals and a truly stirring string section. The best thing? It’s only the first of many highlights from these talented polymaths, who combine elements of alt-country, folk, gospel, blues, soul and every type of music which is good for what ails you.  The bluesy Will My Heart Stay On Track should certainly be a contender for a single, with its funky blues guitar riffing and strong backbeat. Again, Loakes’ singing is right up front, delivering a gritty, soul-style vocal which turns heart-wrenching in the extended coda, combined with butter harmony vocals.

It’s not all melancholy, though - Huckleberry Swedes also exceed at more upbeat material, with We Farm Our Love based around a rather delightful mandolin riff, and the jaunty Cast A Line, a countrified ode to the simple joys of fishing. At all times the arrangements are solid and well-thought out, and the palette of acoustic guitars, mandolins, banjos, subtle drums and fruity Hammond organ, with flourishes of pedal steel, dobro and strings, is simply joyous. The warm, organic and very live feel which producer Jim Moginie (Midnight Oil) has created fits the material and the players to a tee, and is never over-complicated, never too shiny nor too raw.

Closing track Baby’s Gonna Lift Me Up is almost perfect, combining a melancholy feel with a life-affirming vocal melody of almost gospel intensity. It’s a slow burner with an uplifting finish. Suddenly, ‘Suburban Dreaming’ is over, and you’ll find yourself reaching for the play button again, if only for the big grin that it’ll surely put on your face. Track this down, listen to it, love it, listen to it again - there is nothing else to add.