Overhead and underrated: Andy LeMaster, front man for now it's overhead, is the new gay darling of indie rock.

Move over, Stephin Merritt. Step aside, Conor Oberst. It's time to anoint a new pinup boy for gay fans of indie rock.

"I'm actually really happy to be talking to the gay press," laughs Andy LeMaster of the Athens, Ga.-based outfit Now It's Overhead. "I don't think people know [I'm gay]." LeMaster, who is a touring member of Bright Eyes, has indeed been fairly casual about his sexuality, and there may never come a day when his sexual orientation will land him on the cover of People magazine. But what gay man wouldn't let out a knowing chuckle when listening to "Profile" from Now It's Overhead's second album?

   Five ten, 135
   Brown hair with blue eyes
   Light skin, 26
   Status: negative
   In search of conversation
   Name withheld
   Just drop me a line
   I will get back to you, all right
   In my sweet time
   In a dry spell.

Maybe fans should have suspected it sooner, as Athens has been a magnet for some of the country's most notable queer musicians, including Fred Schneider of the B-52's and Michael Stipe. Still, before the boho homos begin decamping for Georgia, they should note that the 30-year-old LeMaster describes the Athens gay scene as more nonexistent than anything else, and what does exist, he says, is among artists and musicians. "It makes it impossible to date," he moans. "Everybody knows everybody already."

More people may know LeMaster soon if the strength of his latest album is any indication. Dark Light Daybreak is a bass-heavy rock and roller, more anthemic than Now It's Overhead's previous two albums while retaining the band's core sound. "I wanted to do something creatively natural but different than I'd done before," LeMaster explains. "I wanted to inject a live element into it."

That element is definitely a change of pace for LeMaster, who's a noted multi-instrumentalist and recording engineer at his own Chase Park Transduction studio. Though Now It's Overhead began as an outlet for LeMaster to put onto tape a collection of songs he'd written, it has become a devoted rock band. LeMaster has tapped Azure Ray players Orenda Fink and Maria Taylor as well as drummer Clay Leverett to help him fill in the sounds.

The result is likely to win the band even more fans--including, one hopes, some gay ones. After all, didn't alternative rock band Sigur Ros's gay lead singer, Jonsi Birgisson, lament the lack of gay fans at his concerts? "When you perform you have to cut off certain things like gaydar," LeMaster explains. Laughing, he adds, "But [Birgisson] may have a perception problem. I mean, I've been to Sigur Ros shows."