Short Reviews [Chris Haskett - 2019 - "Insufficient Necessities"]

Here we have the latest EP from ex-Rollins Band and ex-Bowie guitarist Chris Haskett (who can currently be found working with Helmet among other). Just those three names show the diversity of Haskett, who originally came out of a punk background but appears to have an insatiable musical appetite for spreading his wings in different directions. This four-track 20-minute-long set of instrumental originals show that very well indeed. Mostly working as a trio, with funky bass and jazz-driven progressive drums, the music feels fractured and almost staccato at times. As he says himself, “I think I like things to teeter between being fluidly funky and a little fractured too. I’m hard to categorize because I straddle a kind of venn diagram/middle ground where hard rock meets downtown avant garde (with a little bit of ‘Dark Star’ sprinkled on top).” One influence which really stands out to me is Richard Thompson, but far heavier than I would expect from the English master. Overall, this is an interesting short set which is easy to track down through Bandcamp.