STEVEN SHARPE writes about gay male sex with the kind of ribaldry and attention to salacious detail Prince and Snoop Dogg brought to their songs about straight male sexual adventures.
And why not? If it was OK for Prince to talk about "23 positions in a one night stand" in 'Gett Off' or Bon Scott to deliver too much information in AC/DC's 'Touch Too Much', why shouldn't a gay male talk freely and frankly? Sex happens (otherwise we would have become extinct long ago ), it has always been a subject for songs, but only recently is the gay experience becoming more openly discussed.
'Sound It Out' is the latest single from Steven Sharpe and The Broke Straight Boys, which will be launched with a show in the Róisín Dubh on Friday April 27 at 8pm.
The song has been part of Steven's live set for some time, but has at last been committed to tape. It delivers a humourous, yet poignant story of sexual encounters between a gay man and a man who remains confused about his sexual orientation ("Are you in love with a straight boy? He said 'Maybe', who's to know...it doesn't matter if you're straight or bi or gay" ), and the former knowing his attraction to the latter is not good for either of them ("He keeps calling me over, but all I want is closure" ).
True to any song of such subject matter it spares no detail ("Get your legs around my shoulders, like a good soldier" ) with a plenty of objectification ("If I had a body like yours I'd never wear a shirt." ) Musically it fuses Steven's passion for hard rock and funk, with Dylan Murphy delivering muscular and finely judged guitar riffs and fills, over the Donna Summer-esque rhythms of bassist Shane O'Malley and drummer David Shaughnessy.
‘Sound It Out’ will be available on all major streaming and downloading sites on April 27. Tickets for the show are available from www.roisindubh.net; the Ticket Desk at OMG Zhivago, Shop Street; and The Róisín Dubh.
