ROLLINS BAND: “Liar/Disconnect” (Imago)

“Wanna die/wanna die/wanna die/wanna die.” On a rainy Saturday afternoon, this is amazingly depressing stuff. The Rollins Band crank up a savage, primal din – no nonsense drumbeats and dismembered three chord blues/grunge riffs, over which our tattooed friend howls his lyrics of fear, pain and unpleasantness. Though Henry makes no attempt to disguise his chronic misery, it’s plain that he’s determined to beat his demons through his music, he’s not just out to shock. Alienated teens everywhere will find solace in lines like “I don’t wanna live/In endless darkness/I can’t take any more/Of this suffocation” and we should be grateful to him for that. This is a touchingly honest document wrung from raw, naked pain.