Speaking of the brilliance of Corianton Hale, he turned me on to this album the other day:

Which I now love. I don’t know if you can buy it here. The group (“4 homos, 3 chords, 100 melodies”) is New York-based and their CDs are very DIY and apparently almost all sold out. The album is cheap on ITunes, though.

Be forewarned, they sound like another homo band trying to do Stephen Merritt. But in my opinion there’s not enough Stephen Merritt in this world and, anyway, these guys get a little more raw with the sweet pop/gritty lyrics disjunction. The first song on the album, “Personal,” is all violins and lolli-pop and it begins “I saw you on gaydar…” Then it goes on:

I opened up the photograph / Lettered “Dingle, Dangle” / You looked to be 8 and a half / Could’ve been the angle

Next, the sleazy hookup, sung with the tender tones usually reserved for a wistful song about true love or some such:

I met you on a Saturday / You sent me an instant message / You wanted to meet right away / Under the Manhattan Bridge / I guess I didn’t understand / When you said, ‘Are you top or bottom?’ / I said, ‘Your wish is my command / whatever side you want I got em.’

I won’t tell you how the songs ends, but it’s… sweet.