Catchy tales of youth from Britain’s Streets

The concept of “the streets” has a more hard-core connotation in American rap than the image projected by the English act the Streets, a.k.a. Birmingham-born rapper and producer Mike Skinner, who brought his blend of hip-hop and such dance styles as U.K. garage, two-step and dub reggae to the Troubadour on Thursday.

Raved about in its native land, the Streets’ debut album, “Original Pirate Material,” sonically evokes the world inhabited by disaffected working-class youth, who apparently spend their lives playing video games, eating fast food, smoking pot, going to clubs, drinking too much and disappointing their girlfriends. Skinner’s phrasing, and perhaps his claustrophobic testifying, have led some U.S. critics to compare him to Eminem. But Skinner, 23, was ultimately more upbeat on Thursday, never displaying the slow-burning rage or harrowing confessionalism of our Slim Shady.

The hourlong set featured additional vocalist Kevin Trail as well as a drummer, bassist and keyboardist, which made the performance slightly funkier than the album’s often nerve-grinding shrillness.

But despite energetic give-and-take with Trail, Skinner didn’t have the perverse magnetism of Em, or really much charisma at all beyond the novelty of spewing out fetching British slang.

Skinner came closer to the cultural reportage of the Clash or Sex Pistols with some numbers, including the wistful standout “Weak Become Heroes.” Buoyant and catchy, it captured the innocent fun and inevitable consequences of youthful raves with a sense of transcendence as well as a dose of reality.