Tales of the Salty Bag

 This past November was quite alright. After lengthy gaps both The Cure and The Dopamines blessed us with new albums. I don't think either album has fully set in for me yet, but I wanted to inform you that if you haven't checked out either albums yet...you will not be disappointed. The Dopamines 80/20 smokes. The same band that brought us 2017's Tales of Interest comes again with lyrics that are often quite angry and/or dark with a fair amount of introspection, poppy punk music, hypnotic basslines. To me the music for Save Your Beers has one foot in late 90's/early 2000's alt rock with that verse riff, if you just played me the riff with no lyrics and told me it was from the Green Album I wouldn't argue with you, then the punk kicks in with some classic bass bridge in the mix. Weiner wrote and has lead vocals for two songs on this album (I haven't pulled out the previous albums but I don't believe he's had lead vocals and I'm assuming with only ...

It's Alive Records is back baby! If you're not familiar with IAR, they released some of the best pop punk (not in a warped tour sense, in a punk with great pop sensibility, uh, sense [while hitting so many different branches of the pop punk tree]) to come out of the States and (typically Eastern) Canada from 2004 through 2019 (Copyrights, TBR, Steinways, Dopamines, Gateway District, Crusades, The Creeps...lets just say I celebrate their entire catalogue, as should you). I had seen the Local Drags LP on Recess Ops a while ago (along with Punk Rock Raduno 4) but it wasn't on the IAR website. I wasn't quite sure what was going on, but was a little concerned that it meant the end of the label. Those two records have been on my list of things to get to for a while, but you know, sometimes you just don't get around to getting things. Anyway, this past Oct 4 a notification pops up in my email, IAR posted a new record on their bandcamp. I kept scrolling, is that another IAR...

 I have a very thoughtful friend that when they go on a trip they often bring me back a bag of chips that can't be found in the 204. Well, a couple weeks ago they went on a trip and brought me back a bag of straight up Lay's weirdness. It would appear that Lay's has entered into a partnership with IHOP to bring Rooty Tooty Fresh 'N Fruity Strawberry-Topped Pancakes with Syrup & Bacon Naturally (yeah, okay) & Artificially Flavored Potato Chips. Since these are 'merican the nutrition facts on the back are in 28g portions, but these actually aren't all that unhealthy 24% fat (high side of average amongst all chips, but pretty much par for the course for Lay's) per 56g and only 12% sodium. My guess is that these'll actually be decent. In the past I've found that sweet flavours on chips actually goes over pretty well.  Well, these smell pretty weird..almost like maple syrup and coffee. I've never been in an IHOP, but it sounds about right for ...

 When I saw that Spencer Jo was touring central Canada I made a note of it...so just over a month ago I went to a show in Winnipeg with my wife. Spencer Jo, Grotoko and Borrowed Standards put on an amazing show.  Borrowed Standards opened up (this was my first time hearing his music) with a set of aggressive acoustic folk. If you told me Borrowed Standards put out an album on Plan-It-X I would believe you. Folk that sounds like it's about to go off the rails, but stays on track the whole time.  Next up was the draw for me, Spencer Jo. Before their set I had mentioned that Quit It! hadn't played Guts & Glory and asked if they were going to play it that night. Long story short, they explained why Quit It! took Guts & Glory out of the set and asked if that was a request. Well, I didn't intend it to be a request, but if they wanted to play it who was I to stand in their way, haha. Spencer Jo plays more straight forward folk with a hint of punk and has a presence on s...

 Yoo. So President's Choice Spicy Ketchup (kettle cooked) potato chips "Crave-worthy crunch with an unexpected kick" (but really, how is it unexpected, they say right on the bag that they're spicy [did PC assume that we wouldn't trust them? Maybe the company's ethics are not the most trustworthy, but the products typically aren't]) bang. I tried them last week and have been thinking about the second bag in the salty cellar ever since. They're PC kettle cooked chips, decent crunch and not overly greasy. The flavour though, the flavour; vinegar tartness, sweet tomatoey ketchup and a fantastic flavourful (cayenne) bite. The flavours dance around together in your mouth. Sweet, no, tart, no spicy pepper, huzzah. The odd time some potato flavour peeks out, but just for a second so that it doesn't overstay it's welcome. I'm hoping that PC keeps these along with the spicy dill pickle around for a while. In late 2022 DL Incognito put out his first a...

 Spicy Dill Pickle (kettle cooked), eh President’s Choice. Took you long enough. I found out about these about a month ago when my wife brought home a bag (and a bag of the new PC spicy ketchup as well). When I cracked the bag I was met with a familiar dill pickle scent, smells similar to PCs creamy dill pickle. Initial taste was a creamy dill pickle flavour followed soon by a nice pepper heat. It’s not an obnoxious spicy, it’s just sort of there for the party and lingers for a while after you’ve finished the mouthful. Natural hot pepper flavour that builds the further you get into the bag. These are some crunchy kettle cooked chips, they’re not playing around. Outside of the crunch, the chips definitely play second fiddle to the seasoning. Potato flavour is minimal, that’s not a complaint just an observation. These are also basically health chips at only 17% of our daily fat and a very surprizing 8% of your daily sodium (usually when the flavour is this pronounced the sodium level...