FORGET THE METROSEXUAL . It's now the age of the electrosexual. Where the metrosexual might take tips from Ben Affleck (pretty and groomed but still very straight), the electrosexual is borrowing bedroom cues from David Bowie and style tips from the New York Dolls. Gay, straight, bi, asexual – electrosexuality is more or less about being fabulous in the drag sense of the word. And there was a shitload of fabulousness – visually, at least – going on at the March 4 release party for the Paradise Boys' new album, The Young and the Guest List.

The Paradise Boys are a San Francisco band helmed by DJ Jefrodisiac (né Jeff Fare) and Bertie Pearson. Loosely, they're a dance punk outfit, borrowing somewhat liberally from Gang of Four, New Order, and Joy Division but ditching dour punk polemics and goth overtones in favor of more resolutely discotheque atmospheres. What makes this more bearable than your average electro act is that (a) they're actually a real band, complete with drums, guitar, and trashy backup singer, and (b) their music references electronic dance culture more often than it does tired '80s standards. In fact, local techno veteran Jonah Sharp (of the seminal Reflective label) was called in to produce their album, and hopefully he's given it a musical grounding that outlasts ephemeral trends.

So it was that the release party was a long-overdue commingling of the techno scene with the indie electro contingent (call them "hipsters" at your own risk). Sharp kicked off the night alongside visual partner Del Ray. Side by side on matching laptops, Sharp provided skewed two-step beats, lush ambient rhythms, and angular techno sounds while Del Ray's swirling kaleidoscopes and pulsating dots prompted flashbacks to ambient rooms at raves.

Matthew Curry – alias Safety Scissors – took the stage next. Curry was a longtime fixture in the S.F. glitch community before moving to Berlin a few years back. The German years have changed him. He's no longer just another boy hunched over his laptop but is now a pomo singer-songwriter who's not afraid to play kazoo onstage and sing about anything absurd that strikes his fancy. Over beats that melded the sunny atmospheres of the Beach Boys with a tiny sprinkle of crunk and a fair helping of pop, Curry caressed the mic and sang about eating. I think the lyric went "I know that eating is an action / I keep repeating, like sneezing," but I might be wrong. My other ear was busy eavesdropping on the guys next to me, who were postulating that Curry is the new white version of Prince ("He could be called ... Manila") and praying he wouldn't sing songs from the Lord of the Rings trilogy. I had to step in, though, when they were insinuating that he doesn't get any action. However fey-seeming, the electrosexual gets pussy – believe.

Curry seemed to have left the audience a bit confused – probably a far cry from the reception he gets in Berlin – and they retreated to the bar for more shots of well whiskey as local DJ-producers Broker/Dealer warmed things up with their buttoned-down (but still dirty) vibe. Veering between microhouse, Italo disco-inspired sounds, and Prince's "Controversy," the pair didn't whip up the dance floor, but they did set the tone. Unfortunately, they were hidden from view and so didn't get to reap any audience admiration.

Shortly after midnight, the Paradise Boys took the stage, and it was clear they were crowd favorites. Gathering around the stage, friends of the band and devotees of Frisco Disco, Fare's Saturday-night party at Arrow, got ready to whoop and holla as the band launched into their first number, a skronking, late-'70s/early-'80s one that was slightly derivative but nonetheless fun and party-worthy. The set continued like a name-check of important bands from the Factory Records and Rough Trade eras but broke in the middle for an acid house-influenced number (cowritten with Jonah Sharp) called "The Summer of Love." Also nodding toward the rave scene was the final number, a proto-house tune borrowing heavily from the Source and Candi Staton's seminal late-'80s house number "You Got the Love."