Nice

The cover of Rollins Band’s 2001 album, Nice, is an obvious gag about the record industry's shameless materialism, but one wonders why Henry Rollins felt he need to make the joke. The set of political and aesthetic principles to which Rollins has adhered for decades hadn't changed, nor had he compromised his art. Nice is nearly as punishing as the early Rollins Band albums, but that’s a good thing. He wasn't making commercial rock, but by embracing some of his more accessible influences, he made music that's more fun. Following the appearance of MC5 guitarist Wayne Kramer on the previous album, the influence of Detroit hard rock is prominent here. Judging from “Gone Inside the Zero,” “What’s the Matter Man,” and “Stop Look and Listen,” Rollins has been revisiting his old copies of Raw Power and Cat Scratch Fever. It’s equally refreshing to hear him turning to James Brown (“Up for It”) and Bo Diddley (“We Walk Alone”), but the most singular song here is patently Rollins: “Going Out Strange” matches any track from The End of Silence for gut-grinding physicality.