Henry Rollins is back to remind us yet again that’s he’s a hard, hard man – musically-speaking, of course. Of late, he’s been busy with many other creative pursuits, ranging from a relentless spoken word regime to acting and numerous other projects. So it’s reaffirming, personally, to hear this man still venting his spleen musically with new-ish recorded output. The double-CD Get Some Go Again Sessions is a compilation of tracks recorded in late 1998 and 1999. These recording sessions originally lead to the release of the Get Some Go Again album in 2000. This new sessions release captures Henry having some fun again in a studio and sparking off his new band mates, comprising LA’s Mother Superior, now referred to (by Rollins himself) as the latest incarnation of The Rollins Band.

Mother Superior’s duties are amply filled by Jim Wilson on guitar, Jason Mackenroth on drums and Marcus Blake on bass. These guys collectively seem equally as hard-working as their enigmatic frontman. Just a quick peep at the wealth of Mother Superior recorded material to date is impressive enough – these guys recorded a couple of albums before meeting Henry Rollins when he produced their third effort, Deep. Their stark efficiency whilst recording highly impressed the then band-less Rollins. So much so that he asked the band to record some new material with him. How could you refuse?

The Get Some Go Again Sessions also features two notable guest spots – MC5’s Wayne Kramer on two cuts including co-writing duities on Hotter And Hotter and Thin Lizzy’s Scott Gorham on a workout of a Lizzy tune, Are You Ready. The songs on this sessions album are mostly short, punchy songs, which is something of a welcome relief from this reviewer’s point-of-view. Particularly when looking at latter Rollins Band releases like the meandering heaviness of The End Of Silence (1992) and Weight (1994).

As you would expect with sessions albums, there’s that air of spontaneity. Again, this one’s produced by Henry Rollins. The opening track is Get Some Go Again, which is reminiscent of the signature drive of seminal Black Flag. This is also mirrored by the less complex and looser instrumentation. There are a couple of tracks that break the five minute barrier, like the jazzy-based LA Money Train, with Rollins espousing his worldly views with a rap delivery with flashes of improvisation.

The dark side of the human psyche still occupies most of Henry’s lyrics however every now and then he lightens up with some moments of sarcastic comedy. For example, on the brash blues rock-out with relaxed vocals on Thinking Cap, he pokes fun at his usual targets like money-grabbing fakes. Don’t forget, all members are based in California so there’d be no shortage of such characters roaming about to inspire such venom. Fans of ‘90s phenomena, The Offspring, don’t get off so lightly either. The lyrics feature the typical Rollins take-no-prisoners stance:

In Love’s So Heavy, Rollins ventures into the uncommon (for him) foray of the love song but accompanied with a heavy, lurching blues. In the throat work, there’s still the presence of dark desperation and anger yet the words themselves seem stilted at times. By no means does it annoy – it’s good to hear Rollins experimenting with new forms. There’s another homage to friends lost forever in Brother Interior.

This willingness to broaden the scope again is reflected in the very conversational yet slightly quirky Fuck Yo Mamma. It consists of a basic collage of samples with megaphone vocals swaggering with rap tinges. The second CD also contains multimedia content, including a video for Get Some Go Again and an interview clip with Henry talking about Mother Superior and performing live. Images of this man in live mode are always captivating. Few performers give so much to their audiences as much as Henry Rollins does – he’s up there with Iggy Pop in terms of spectacle when onstage. Glimpses of Black Flag era live shows are always fascinating but these are very, very brief.

Overall, the Get Some Go Again Sessions are a comfortable addition to the Henry Rollins reportoire. Musically, it doesn’t diverge too much from the well-trodden dark and angry path – but if you like your music loud and heavy with a driving rhythm section, then you can’t go too wrong here. In addition, be surprised by occasionally funny turns from Rollins, and yet his lyrics can also be ham-fisted at times. Mother Superior do a good job of matching it up to the dedicated vocalist in this collection of early group recordings.

I’ll still be keen to check out what he does next given that there’s always the hope that Henry Rollins will keep exploring new musical territory. Only that way will he manage to maintain interest for the long term in his current song-making efforts.