WTD first?: Lose weight, or gain muscle?

Since I only have 1 course to take for my last semester of college, I'd like
to use some of my newly gained free time to concentrate on getting into
shape.

I'm 23 years old, male, am 5'10" and weight 170lbs. I'm a skinny guy, but
when I lift up my shirt you can definetily see that I have some "junk in the
trunk" around my stomach and waist. However in addition to losing this
weight, I'd like to gain some muscle mass.

From reading some of this newsgroups archives on Google Groups, I gathered
that it's not possible to lose weight and gain muscle at the same time.

So, I was wondering which goal should I focus on first? Should I lose
weight and get my stomach to where I want it, then start eating and lifting
for mass? (Or vice versa).

Thanks.