Blunda
Messages
(Blunda)

You probably know Andy Blunda from his unique guitar magic for Fastball or have heard his stuff without knowing it, seeing as he has been a composer on TV shows (“Storage Wars” and “Appalachian Outlaws” on The History Channel). This I.M.P artist has just released his second solo EP, Messages, a mélange of ’80s new wave and some intricately interesting mood moments wrapped up in a good little mix of self-produced concoctions.

“A Broken Case” has a soft arpeggiated metallic backing and swirling strings (very Tangerine Dream here at the beginning) then a Duran Duran-like bass kicks in with a snap high snare. It’s a nice dance beat by the time we’re into Blunda’s soft high vocals. Things get positively Giorgio Moroder-like with a nod to Donna Summer’s late ’70s disco (not a bad thing by any means) on “If You Want Me,” where Blunda gives us a good, full use of his falsetto and he lays in delicate single notes in this fine production. The EP’s title track is a truly danceable tune with another great vocal from Andy Blunda, and includes a high falsetto chorus, clean low bass and great placement of his electric guitar.

“Devil Inside” is the best song here for me, featuring a well-placed piano and like “The Money Side,” a song that features a great harmony vocal, killer drummer Fernando Sanchez lays down the back beat (Blunda plays all instruments on this EP otherwise) with Blunda once again picking his guitar moments for nice compositional choices instead of just stepping out to lead.