The 2120's - Moments (Self-Released)

The 2120’s is a garage rock band from, of all places, Kalmar, Sweden led chiefly by vocalist and guitarist, Christian Smedström. Their newest album, Moments, a follow up to 2014’s The Bunker Sessions, is another winning collection of the bluesy garage rock they’ve come to be known for—similar to The Black Keys, but with a left-of-center grittiness à la Captain Beefheart. Coincidentally, one-time Beefheart keyboardist John Thomas plays on five songs from the band’s LA sessions.

Many of the songs like “Shake For Me” and “Have Mercy” feel like stripped down versions of themselves, relying less on percussion and more on an atmosphere culled from a wall of reverb and some moody posturing thrown in for good measure. Elsewhere, there’s strong boogie elements of psychobilly on “Born To Run” (not what you think) and “Move On” like a tamed-down, more easily palpable version of The Cramps.

Some of the finest moments here, however, are the slow burners like “Slowdance” and “Seeing Shadows,” where the band’s natural strength are given plenty of room to stretch and grow, prowling menacingly like a tiger circling its cage. Released in March, Moments is another fine addition to a band’s already impressively strong discography.