Skip to main content

Is This A Test?

I think I'm starting to go crazy. I swear that I saw CLOWNS - Bad Blood on some year end lists for 2016..which makes no sense being that it was a Feb 2015 release. Maybe I saw their Destroy the Evidence single on a list and stumbled my way backwards. Or maybe because it was released in Europe in 2016...does it even matter?

Now that's out of the way. CLOWNS, amiright. This group of Melbourne punk rockers put out Bad Blood just about 2 years ago and I must say it is quite the enjoyable 38 minutes (11:21 being the final track). The singer goes from yelling to screaming with the odd guttural growl and/or screech, it can be quite manic..which in my books is fantastic. Overall they traverse the hardcore spectrum; melodic to street punk to straight forward HC. There's rock and roll present throughout the whole thing with just a dash of pop. The singer's range of delivery brings Pears to mind (but slightly less frantic). Every once in a while I get a real The (later era) Unseen vibe from these songs (but not as monotonous). I dig it. There's no liner notes/lyric sheet (at least in the This Charming Man Records pressing that I have) which is a minor bummer but ya know, who buys physical music anyway?

So...last week I finally got my hands on, and cracked open, a bag of Covered Bridge Sweet & Spicy Jalapeno Old Fashioned Kettle Cooked Potato Chips. I don't believe I've seen a bag of these in the store (definitely not in Manitoba) so I took it upon myself to order an assorted box (mostly containing S&S Jalap and Loaded Hot Dog) from (IMO) Canada's premier chip company. When one orders chips online you have to assume that expectations are moderately high (having that "Sweet" involved with Jalapeno definitely didn't hurt the intrigue either). Preamble, schmeamble right? GET TO THE CHIPS!!". Snatch, peel, sniff, kettle cooked chips, no discernible flavour scent. They looked like standard Covered Bridge chips; skins present with a good portion of well cooked chips. With my mouth watering I tossed one in. Initial reaction; the flavour is similar to Old Dutch Jalap and Cheddar (based on memory, I haven't had a bag of those in a minute). The heat is very enjoyable with the after-burn being present but not overwhelming. The seasoning is perfectly complimented by the flavour of the med-to-well done potato..chips. Every once in a while I got a faint sweetness peaking out from behind the curtain. Personally I don't find the seasoning to be all that groundbreaking, it's still very much within the Jalapeno spectrum that other companies also produce, what separates these chips apart from the crowd is the actual chip preparation/kettle cooking that Covered Bridge has mastered. I tip my hat to yet another strong bag of Covered Bridge goodness.

Stay hydrated,
Marc

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Lean On Me

I first saw The Flatliners on May 9, 2003. They were opening for Bigwig/The Planet Smashers on the grind tour and kicked ass. Their sound has changed since that date but it hasn't stopped them from becoming one of my favourite bands both recorded and live. Because of my affinity for The Flatliners I was drawn to The Warehouse (Calgary) on September 26, 2007. Having never heard the other bands that were to be playing that night I had very few preconceived notions (I did very little, super lazy, research), I was just there to see The Flatliners and hoped the other bands didn't suck. To my absolute surprise and amazement, the opening? band (might have been 2nd of 4, I can't remember for sure [it really doesn't matter]) The Peacocks absolutely slayed. This 3 piece punkabilly band from Winterthur, Switzerland owned the stage. There was no fancy lighting, costumes or pyrotechnics..just three guys in jeans and black shirts rocking out. When they played there was pure uncut en...

2, 4, 5 Trioxin

I recently went on a road trip with my wife (Teresa) and daughter. Covered thousands of km's..Saskatoon -> Fort McMurray -> Calgary -> Home. Throughout this trip we stopped in at 4 record stores, 1 British food import store (to grab some of them uk chips, one of the many flavours was mentioned in The Letter F ) and stayed with friends/family in each city. This trip also resulted in at least 2 gifts that become tales in this here blog in the paragraphs below. The first record store that we ventured into on this trip was the Vinyl Diner in Saskatoon. Whenever Teresa and I go to record stores she usually leaves me to my business and finds a store nearby to browse or just hangs out at the front while I get into the zone. This time however turned out to be different. A few days after we arrived home from Calgary, I found out that with this particular visit to the Vinyl Diner Teresa was doing her own browsing, with the stealthiness of a ninja, that went completely unnoticed b...

Stairway to heaven 2

Dear Diary, I was in Dollarama last week picking up some last minute..well it doesn't really matter why I was there. Anyway, as I was in the line for the checkout and out of the corner of my eye I noticed a blue bag that I'd seen a million times before. For some reason this time, it's unassuming blue on blue top with stock photo potato chip bottom intrigued me (that in addition to it being 280g for $2). I thought, to myself, 'hey, they carry Covered Bridge..maybe these Made in Canada "D Gourmet" potato chips are some other high end chip that just happens to be carried in dollar stores.'. I proceeded to take the $2 leap and threw them in my basket. Within an hour of getting home I had cracked the bag and was happily consuming. These D Gourmet Salt & Vinegar potato chips were for lack of better term, pretty run-of-the-mill. The chips are somewhat sterile, no well done chips and no skins, and fairly lightweight. The seasoning is faint but fairly well di...