John O’Regan, who performs as Diamond Rings, is a pretty charming character. He’s a blond Toronto native rarely seen without smeared make-up (and glitter) across his eyes, typically in elaborate rainbow patterns. (Is it weird I find that look kind of cool? New York hipster fashion can get a tad boring...anyway.) Honestly, after the ridiculous choreographed music videos for “Wait & See” and “Show Me Yr Stuff” (O'Regan as Lady GaGa meets voguing basketball players and weird peacock outfits), I gave up on trying to pin him as a gay artist. All that voguing and glitter-laden face paint aside, O’Regan is probably just a really, really, really ironic straight guy who really, really, really likes the 90’s, Vanilla Ice, and basketball. His debut album, unsurprisingly-titled Special Affections, collects the lo-fi relationship-y songs he’s had floating around since 2009, with a few we haven’t heard before. 

 Most of O’Regan’s music consists of chords from a cheap stratocaster copy, two interchangeable drum-machine patterns, some basic synth work, and a heavy, flat, baritone delivery. Lyrically, he personifies the lyric "R-E-S-P-E-C-T M-E", consistently trying to one-up the other during these rocky relationships of his. The only issue I have with his lyrics is that they seem like strong, independent woman-talk that just happens to be coming from a man, a man with a thick baritone that would benefit from being a bit softer at times. It just seems as if O’Regan’s always standing in the door frame with his hand at his waist as he waves his finger threatening to leave. Considering that he’s like 6’6, it’s an interesting role-reversal. Sometimes it works, sometimes I didn't really buy into it.

 O’Regan never out and out berates the subject of these songs; he's a bit too sweet for that. The jangle-guitar filled “Something Else” takes a few punches, such as the lyric “looking down on everyone you’ve ever known/in your whole entire so-called life,” but the song is a declaration of feelings with hope for an eventual catharsis rather than a fuck you, I’m done sort of deal. But the album's standout “All Yr Songs” drops any and all condescension (rightfully placed at the end of the album) for the sappiest, strum-happiest, song you could possibly make on a budget mostly used for RadioShack instrument cables. On “All Yr Songs”, O’Regan lowers his tone a bit and actually admits to heavily needing the person he’s been hurt by/indirectly hurting for the previous nine tracks. Ever wonder why those two who always fight never break up? “All Yr Songs” is a pretty good example. 

 Special Affections, while consistently charming, can be repetitive at times. But there are a few tracks where O’Regan branches out. “On Our Own” and "You Oughta Know" (with its lame Joy Division allusion), for example, are more in line with the non-album single “Show Me Yr Stuff” in terms of leaning more toward a New Wave-type sound. O’Regan never seems to be without an infectious hook; he just sometimes relies too heavily on what he knows—that fucking drum-machine sounding the same on every song being a perfect example. Also, not to his fault, a lot of these songs are pretty old. “All Yr Songs”, “Wait & See”, “Give It Up”, and “Something Else” (albeit live, it wasn’t recorded yet) were floating around almost two years ago, and considering the occasional sound-a-likes on the record, there’s very little new material here. But, again, “I’ve been bad and mean to you, but you right my wrongs. I do try, you know I love to sing all your songs,” ah, it’s just undeniable at times.