ever notice how much buda looks like benny from ABBA?Luke Buda – Benny Andersson (ABBA) imper­son­at­or extraordin­aire, and one of the front­men of Wel­ling­ton band The Phoenix Found­a­tion – has just released his debut solo album ‘Spe­cial Sur­prise’ (fol­low­ing on from his 2004 release ‘The C‑Sides’ mini-album, which is still avail­able over at Slow Boat Records so we’re told).

And it sounds great. Fans of The Phoenix Found­a­tion will know roughly what to expect: lots of nice melod­ies and gui­tar action, but with a touch more humour and a lot more synth action than the two ‘Phoene­cian’ albums to date. But don’t believe us, believe the paid pro­fes­sion­al review­ers. Says Lind­say Dav­is of the Domin­ion…

Music­ally, the album is eclect­ic, mix­ing the gun­sling­ing rock on the ‘Stal­lion’ to the Lat­in feel of ‘Sauerkraut Bossa’, which com­bines a cheesy elec­tro-lounge rhythm with organ washes and yet some­how you are hooked. ‘Slav to the Rhythm’ updates mid-peri­od Bowie with a slick lyr­ic that morphs into a a driv­ing fuzzed con­clu­sion that would make the Tin Machine blush.

…and Lyn­don Walk­er of Rip it Up…

With lots of soft melod­ies, mel­low synths and a sound which is part Phoenix Found­a­tion and part his own, this album is a great listen from begin­ning to end…

Any Auck­landers who hap­pen to be read­ing this blog should be aware that Buda is play­ing up at the Kings Arms this Sat­urday (8th April) with SJD, and for us Wel­ling­to­ni­ans, more gigs are appar­ently in the pipeline.