In a film naturally dominated by a cast of downtown, off-the-radar artists, actors, and overall “personalities,” it was not easy for any one performer to necessarily give a “breakthrough” performance in John Cameron Mitchell’s sweet, endlessly clever 2007 film Shortbus. Nevertheless, Jay Brannan, a guitar-strumming prettyboy, who plays Ceth, a guitar-strumming prettyboy (with a name spelled funny because he’s, y’know, quirky and shit), clearly stands out among his co-stars. Brannan not only makes Ceth likable in a role that otherwise might be seen as whiny and self-congratulatory, but his charisma as an actor (and his butt*) is additionally undeniable.

“Soda Shop,” Brannan’s original song featured in Shortbus, served as a prime example of his signature style of songwriting. With a lilting falsetto and biting, confessional lyrics, Brannan - on his new album Goddamned - is essentially Sara Bareilles, doused in gay with a pinch of Rent-inspired urban melodrama: the music is fine enough, and that’s all you need to know. He’s not Mozart, nor is he trying to be.

What’s kind of icky about Brannan, however, is that doesn’t just use his looks to sell records in a traditional pop manner (see Enrique Iglesias, Britney Spears, post-crazy Mariah), but does so in a grossly calculated, arugbly postmodern way in which he feigns vulnerability and overt self-awareness. Whether it’s drooling daddies, eager thirtysomething urbanites, or midwestern twinks looking for their own John Mayer, Brannan has crossed over into the mainstream via D.I.Y. YouTube videos in which he often sings his songs topless (and sometimes - in a move akin to that of a high school senior who didn’t the lead part in Guys And Dolls - naked) . Y’know, Jay’s just another gorgeous guy without his shirt on, singing sensitive ditties about rejection and loneliness, which are the same feelings experienced by folks just like you.

Accompanying the video above are links to sites where the song is available for download, but that’s only - as Brannan writes - “if anybody cares.” As of today, the video has been recevied 1.2 million hits (wheras the videos in which he’s clothed all linger around 100,000).

In the age of Napoleon Dynamite, overusage of the term “awkward,” and Pete Wentz owning, like, everything, it appears that being a pouty, self-defeating emo-homo has proven successful for Brennan, which especially sucks because he is undoubtedly an intelligent enough dude who truly doesn’t need to resort to the whole virgin/whore complex, or its contemporary equivalent, the Li’l Old Me, Sexy?/Strap It On And Go To Town complex.

Plus, he’d probably be cuter with his shirt on.

*P.J. DeBoy sings “The Star-Spangled Banner” into Brennan’s ass in a threesome scene that is really fucking funny, making what could potentially be a slimy, porn-y moment into something essentially human (and, therefore, actually sexy).

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