Rating: NNN
There’s no doubt about it. Scottish wunderkind Paolo Nutini is headed for international success. Of course, that’s only if the incorrigible fans of sensitive, soulful singer/songwriters keep gobbling up James Blunt records en masse. Twenty-year-old James Blunt/Jack Johnson/Ben Harper sound-alike Nutini wrote his debut disc in his teens, so let’s chalk up the mundane melodies and average musicianship to inexperience. That said, with a bevy of radio-friendly crowd-pleasers, These Streets is about as good as Blunt’s smash-hit album, and with a little more maturity, direction and skills, Nutini should one day easily surpass his heartbroken guitar-slinging cohorts. Paolo Nutini plays March 7 (Wednesday) at the Mod Club.
