Name: Christian & the 2120’s
Hometown: Gothenburg, Sweden
Listen to: Shake For Me, What Else Is New, Into The Light
Moments is the latest offering from Swedish born, L.A. livin’ rocker Christian Smedström and his brilliant band, the 2120’s. In 12 songs, they take you on a night ride through southern California, through every truck stop diner and dusty saloon on the long, dark highway. You can feel the dry, cool air, finally tamed from its daylight ferocity. You hear the bell jingling on the awkwardly swinging door of the gas station, the smell of fuel creeping up your nostrils. Bellows and cackles erupt from the dimly, neon-lit bar down the road. The 2120’s could very well be playing out of that bar’s old analog jukebox that still plays 45’s.
The band’s sound is an old one made new. The twang of the crisp, slapback guitar is lifted from the early sixties but given a new energy with a Black Keys style bounce. The slower numbers could easily make their way into one of Tarantino’s dark surf rock-obsessed soundtracks and in fact, Smedström has made a name for himself by appearing on a laundry list of television and movie soundtracks. Chances are you’ve Googled one of his songs while sitting in your underwear watching Sons of Anarchy or Shameless.
Songs like ‘Move On’, ‘Catch a Train’ and the title track, ‘Moments’ chug along with throbbing, persistent bass lines, locking in like pistons in a cylinder to the shuffling drums. The lyrics have their eye on the prize, striving ceaselessly for the destination down the road.
The most impressive numbers are the quieter numbers that score the hypnotizing moments between destinations where the mind is left to wonder. ‘Shake For Me’ is a slow burning, seductive number. Bongos and rattlesnake shakers set the mood, overdriven bass swells like eyes bulging at the sight of a slithering, sexy woman, shaking to the beat. The haunting piano atmospheres courtesy of Klas-Henrik Hörngren give the piece an after-midnight vibe.
The steady-cruising ‘What Else Is New’ pumps like an ultra-cool reincarnation of Golden Earring’s classic driving tune, Radar Love. Joel Lundberg’s organ chimes in with responses to Smedström’s calls. The song transitions smoothly into the album’s most entrancing song, ‘Into the Light’. As the title implies, the track paints a picture of the twilight moment when the sun is creeping up over the horizon behind you as you hopelessly race west to the coast, desperately trying to be off the road by the time the sun takes over again, baking the land. The combo of lap-steel, Fender Rhodes keyboards, and a mischievous bass line gives this tune a dogged sway.
Moments is a true road trip record. The band captures the feeling of flying down California highways and makes you feel it, wherever you are. This band is one smash-hit single away from selling out theatres so catch them now while you can still see them heat up a dimly lit bar stage. Better yet, toss them on next time you’re going for a cruise.
Words by Jon Ireson