Tales of the Salty Bag

I was very late to the Pusha T game. When Pusha T put out King Push at the end of 2015 it came highly recommended through the Get Up On This podcast, so I checked it out and from that day on have fully been on board..which inevitably sent me back to the Clipse's classic Hell Hath No Fury and debut Lord Willin'. It's sort of odd it took me that long to get aboard, back in the early 2000's I was aware of the Clipse's radio hits (specifically Grindin' because of the Kardinal Offishall colab on it) but I just never took the time. Well, 2018 brought us King Push's newest offering Daytona. Is it fully of clever wordplay, hard rhymes, vivid pictures and top notch production? Yes. Does it feature a verse by Kanye that starts with "Poop. Scoop! Whoop. Whoopty-whoop!"? Yep (and the delivery of those few words is so infectious). Do I have any complaints about the album? Na, it's a little short I guess at 7 songs and just under 22 minutes (I consider it to...

When I opened up my bag of Flamin' Hot Limon Crunchy Cheetos and took a whiff, well there wasn't much there..fragrance wise they smell like a bag of corn snacks. I find it amusing that the same bag that boasts "Made with Real Cheese!" also has the description of "Cheese flavored snacks" (yes, these are an American bag. Now, I'm not trying to be a dick here and I understand that the bags have a typical layout and standard statements that all bags of Cheetos have of them, irregardless of the flavo(u)r, but these "cheese flavored snacks" taste like chili pepper (slightly hotter than standard jalapeno) with a hint of lime flavo(u)red snacks. The seasoning is present with, at least to me, no room left for cheese flavour and just a hint of corn flavour (most of the corn flavour is wiped out in the manufacturing process) lingering in the background. They have a good crunch followed by melt in your mouth cornmeal softness as Cheetos, or whatever your r...

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...

Sometimes it's nice to just take comfort in the familiar. Based on my October 2015 blog post Dammit , and my regular postings related to the many side of pop punk, it should come as no surprise to anyone that Blink 182 is one of my comfort (ear) foods. There are long stretches where Dude Ranch,  Cheshire Cat and the rest of the pre-2005 catalogue reside in the shadows, but I always come back to them. Sometimes it takes hearing a song on the radio, seeing a picture of a bulls testicles, or listening to the Blink 155 podcast. The first two reasons don't really exist however the third I just got into a couple week ago. Blink 155, which started in the summer of 2017, is a podcast in which Canadians Josiah (Exclaim) and Sam (Perfect Youth [fantastic book about the first wave of punk across Canada]) are digging wayyyy deep into all 155 songs that Blink 182 has released. Each episode is centered (more or less [sometimes they get pretty far off topic {they ride the fine line of being a...

I was in behemoth chain store recently and I came across a "NEW!" bag of Ruffles, Sweet & Spicy (I swear I had them a while ago and was confused by the "NEW!" branding but I can't find any notes in my phone and don't appear to have blogged about them in the past, so yeah. I grabbed a bag (and after consuming, the next time I was at the same store I grabbed 3 more bags). The cover shows a bunch of wings with a red honey glazed looking sauce, which is usually a pretty good sign. Do they taste like wings? Well, they taste like wing sauce, a mix of honey garlic and 2nd degree (or something like that). The bite is pretty mild but it's still present and complements the sweet very well. They're standard ruffles; mini ridged and light-mid weight crunch (I believe Ruffles are formed chips however they avoid the taste of eating a bag of instant mashed potatoes that comes with most formed chips, specifically of the Pringles variety [maybe because they'r...

This entry's coming a little late, kind of snuck up on me so I'm going to go back to notes from this past January for the chip portion: President's Choice Loads of Creamy Dill Pickle. They're a standard ridged chip, dippable but not overly aggressive crunch. Ridges are wavy as opposed to ruffle style mini ridges. "Not sure about 'loads of', more like generous flavour (with a good even distribution throughout the bag)" (I guess when I consumed them I was expecting a slap in the face level of seasoning). There's dill pickle tartness present but it's not aggressive..and not overly powdery like some brand's "creamy dill" tend to be. I'd put the emphasis on the Dill Pickle side of the name as opposed to Creamy. I'm not a super fan of creamy dill chips in general, these ones are okay (I need to try them again, I could see a future assessment being slightly more positive). Luke McNeill is a major contributor to some fantastic...

A month or two ago I was on the Wasted Wax Records store/distro picking up some LP's cause I've dug everything that they've put out as a label, had a few holes to fill in my collection and figured that anything they put out as distro would be up to the same sonic standard as their own releases. One of the LP's that I picked up was Mandible Klaw's S/T from 2016 (YYC band, Handsome Dan Records). By the looks of it I had assumed that it'd be somewhere in the hardcore/metal spectrum..Deranged Records..ish. Was I right? Yep, MK play 80's style hardcore punk in the vein of whatever you think is good with a hint of thrash thrown in (there's the slightest hint of rock in there too). They rarely take their foot of the gas, the guitar's are intricate without being wankey (some solos, there's leads, there's fantastic music) and the odd breakdown(ish) part I'm willing to bet won't initiate a spin kicking, arm flailing douchepit. The vocals are ...

What do Sprouts Potato Co Kettle Style Chips..Truffle Flavor Number 10, "Sweet Tangy" "Crispy Crunch" chips taste like you ask? Well, I'd say that one of their parents was in the sour cream and onion family while their other parent was in the (mesquite) barbecue family. When you take a whiff of the freshly cracked bag there's no real seasoning fragrance, just chips and oil. How crunchy are they? Well, previous bags of Sprouts that I've had came off as a more airy kettle cooked chip..for some reason this bag comes off as your standard mid weight kettle cooked (I find this odd, maybe my previous tastings of other flavours tainted me and gave me unachievable expectations with regards to actual chip [either way the chips are still good, not too greasy with some crunch]). The seasoning for the most part is on the light side..which is when I taste more of a SC&O than mesquite..but the odd chip is fairly well seasoned and the mesquite barbeque is more at th...

M'lady gave me a bag of Great Lakes (Potato Chip Co.) Kettle Cooked Buffalo Wing Potato Chips "Skin On" "Made in Traverse City Michigan" a couple months ago. I just cracked the bag and took a whiff..vinegar? Visually the flavour doesn't look very well distributed. I picked a semi seasoned looking chip out of the bag and yeah, not much flavour with a bit of a heat stiner. I then picked out a chip that looked well coloured (and assumed seasoned) and it was. The flavour is very much like any mass produced medium to hot mass produced buffalo hot sauce (my reference point is the three pepper President's Choice buffalo hot sauce [hot vinegar based sauce with a hint of {I think} ranch]). When you get a well seasoned chip they're quite enjoyable, nice crunch without being overly greasy for kettle cooked..but the well seasoned chips are somewhere between 5 and 10% of the bag so..take from this what you want. The seasoning distribution is similar to Uncle Ray...

What do Old Dutch Salt 'n Vinegar taste like you ask? Well, they're a standard (non-kettle cooked) potato chip that are on the lightweight side of crunch. At times the seasoning seems almost powdery to the taste. The vinegar flavour is quite tart. For the most part the seasoning is well distributed throughout the bag (the odd chips is more towards the light side). They're not the most rigid chip but if you have a soft dip they'll work (S&V is a great dipping seasoned chip in general [I guess almost all staple flavours are good for dipping]). Old Dutch doesn't break any barriers with their standard line of chips but they're passable in most circumstances. The first tape that I recall owning was Jock Rock, Volume 2. The first cd that I ever bought was Weird Al's Bad Hair Day. The first record that I purchased was (I believe) The Cure's Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me. I haven't listened the Jock Rock or Bad Hair Day in a while, but I'd like to thin...

Sometimes co-op (sorry if you don't live in western Canada) releases chips flavours that are straight up bangers. This past Tuesday I cracked out a bag of co-op Gold, Kettle Cooked Black Pepper & Balsamic Vinegar chips. Do they have a distinct scent..not really. The chips are mid to light weight on the kettle cooked spectrum. Even though they're not the heaviest chips they still deliver a good crunch. The flavour is fairly evenly distributed throughout the bag with both balsamic vinegar and black pepper being present (go figure, right?) without being overly aggressive. When consuming, the vinegar flavour hits slightly earlier than the pepper. The tartness followed up with a black pepper minor heat is quite enjoyable. Damn fine chips (hey co-op, don't let these go the way of jalapeno dill [while you're at it, please bring back jalapeno dill]).  About a year ago I went to an all ages show at the East End CC. I went there for the Uglies but I was pleasantly surprised...

A couple months ago my buddies mom went out to Toronto and when she came back she gifted me with a bag of Irresistible's "old-fashioned potato chips" Olive and Feta Flavour (thanks Nancy). It took me a minute to get around to the bag, finally this past week I cracked them open. They smelled like chips (suprise nah?) with a hint of rosemary(? [I'm not great with picking out herbs, but I'm pretty sure it's rosemary]). My initial thoughts were that they'd fall in the sour cream & onion flavour family. There's a hint of rosemary(? [which was in line with the chip's scent]) followed by a faint liguria olive flavour. There's also a very faint tart almost balsamic vinegar flavour hanging out in the background trying to sneak into the party. The chips are quite salty, which makes sense due to the feta namesake. There is a nice range of flavour that is non-aggressive but present throughout consumption. The chips are lightly kettle cooked. Quite good...

Sometimes chips that I'm not all that excited about get pushed to the back of the cellar and sort of forgotten about. Well, today I'm going to talk about Hardbite 18 Carrot Gold 'Lightly Salted Carrot Chips". I believe that when consumed before or close to their best before date they would have a good crunch to them...I'm consuming about 19 months after their BB date so I'm getting a nice crunch on the outside with a bit of softness on the inside. The cut the carrots lengthwise to make the chips so they're a nice long thin chip..well, a lot of them are curled up into themselves but it's still intriguing. Their flavour reminds me a lot of sweet potato chips (and oddly there's very little stale taste to them..just the odd chip). They're fairly well cooked (pretty brown) and the cooking brings out a nice sweetness. I'd agree with the lightly salted portion of their name, it's present but not overpowering. After a handful of the chips by the...

Got around to the Sprouts Potato Co. Kettle Style Chips Salt & Vinegar, "Salty Tangy" "Crispy Crunch" that I had picked up when in the states this past spring. I was quite looking forward to them as the previous sprouts flavour that I'd tried was quite okay. When I cracked the bag it was quite fragrant with the tangyness of vinegar. With my first bite I found the seasoning to be quite ordinary, not super heavy but present. As I kept consuming the 141g bag I noticed that the odd chip had a weird tang to it, similar to a malt vinegar but not quite the same..those chips have a more aggressive bite to them (with a hint of sweetness but not on the Covered Bridge levels). The odd chips had a real earthy taste to it as well (which I'm into). There was a good ratio of standard vs well done chips within the bag. The crunch is similar to the other Sprouts bags that I've had where it's not quite your typical aggressive kettle cooked crunch but somewhere be...

Apparently last week was my blog week..that came and went. Earlier today I was going through the notes on my phone and I noticed that there were quite a number of notes for chips that I had consumed but not blogged about yet..so today I'm catching up on a few past chip notes.. December 10, 2016 ...I consumed Covered Bridge Red & White Potato Chips with Sea Salt. I believe these were some sort of Canada Day related chip..but I'm not all that sure. They're a nice fully flavoured covered bridge chip with skins and deep browning on an adequate portion. Lightweight kettle cooked..a tad greasy but that comes with the kettle cooking and such. Being kettle cooked they hold up to dipping fairly well. It could be in my head but the red chips had a slightly more earthy flavour than the standard "white" potato chips. They're Covered Bridge plain chips..so basically the best plain chips you're going to get. I tried out two Heluva Good dips as well. Heluva Good ...

So it would appear that Ruffles are trying to expand the standard American chip flavour pallet on the backs of Canadians. On a trip this spring I picked up a bag of American Ruffles All Dressed "#1 Flavor in Canada". "What does all dressed mean? Find out on back!" and according to the back, yadda yadda yadda.."that somehow taste salty, savory & sweet all at the same time. Sounds good, eh?". As I wanted to find out what these chips that are all the rage in Canada taste like I grabbed a bag. Cracked them open, a slight fragrance of vinegar..with potato chips. My first few snag and crunches..not a whole lot. The seasoning is pretty uneven ranging from adequate to "is there seasoning on this chip?". When I found some with discernible seasoning it tasted like a vinegary bbq.maybe a bit of ketchup trying to make some noise..I dunno, it's all dressed. The chips are standard Ruffles, somewhat thin with tiny ridges. I don't consume Ruffles ver...

I can't remember the first time that I heard of Sean Paul, I want to say that I saw a low budget music video that he released in the late 90's on Much Music (back before they dropped the Music)..but I can't figure out what song it was for (maybe it was a feature?..)..either way, lets just say that I was first introduced to Sean Paul through Money Jane from Kardinal Offishall's Firestarter Vol 1. (Kardi's classic album). It seems that not too shortly after that feature Sean Paul just blew up. The next thing I knew Gimme the Light dropped and wowzers,, he was everywhere. Dutty Rock sold like crazy (I can't say that I purchased the album when it came out..but I managed to hear every song off of it..somehow) and hot dang there were some bangers. I still listen to Gimme The Light , Like Glue and Punkie somewhat regularly. Living in Bdn, MB being exposed to dancehall isn't a regular occurrence (and I haven't taken much time to delve into the genre) so I can...

(I wrote this paragraph before listening to the album or looking at the liner notes) It's Alive Records recently put out the LP version of The Stupid Daikini's 2015 album everything is fine . I've basically avoided knowing anything about this album and/or listening to it (since I heard about it..and that IAR was releasing it physically) prior to having the LP in my hands. I for some unexplained reason assumed that it would be along the lines of folk punk from California when I first heard about the album. Now, it appears (based on the cover and song titles), to be garage punk with an 80's hardcore..possibly Riot Grrrl influence. I believe that the vocals are female and I'm guessing they're going to be closer to yelled/screamed than sang. I anticipate the songs to be drenched with emotion..err anger..and to be bangers. I'm anticipating the songs to be borderline bangers with a little sweet. (I tried these chips a month ago but made no notes so this is off o...

The Raging Nathans play '94 influenced pop punk. You would have never guessed based on the cover of their newest album Cheap Fame . Somewhat snotty melodic vocals with some nice harmonies. The tempos are up, I bet Raging Nathans shows have super fun pits without attracting those annoying spin kicking change picking up twats (there's some heat, but it's not brutally heavy). Nice galloping bass lines throughout the album. In contrast to the music, the lyrics get quite dark and sad. These guys would fit in on a tour with Dear Landlord, The Copyrights or (not just because they share a member) The Dopamines. Great album. I've only had a few spins at this point but with each flip of the LP it gets better and better, 'tis a catchy one. I'd recommend picking up the album from Rad Girlfriend Records ..or you can download it and pay what you want at their bandcamp . It's that time again, another completely necessary blog about a bag of chips brought home fr...

I was recently passing through Duty Free on my way back from Oklahoma and I noticed some personal (57g) bags of chips on sale. They were Joe Chips to be exact. "Retro Potato Chips"..so I grabbed a bag of each of the flavours they had Sour Cream & Toasted Onion, Barbeque, and Sea Salt & Vinegar. The first bag I cracked open was the Sour Cream & Toasted Onion. I neglected to really read the flavour or any of the write up on the back so I was unaware that these were "toasted" onion and also that they're kettle cooked. Prior to reading the back of the bag I made the assessment that these were some sort of hybrid between typical and kettle cooked chips. When I thought they were standard chips I figured that they were on the crunchy side, after reading the back I realized that they're on the light side of kettle cooked, not as many curled up chips as other brands. The flavour is pretty run of the mill SC&O that's evenly distributed throughout...

This past summer a friend of mine sent me a picture of chips that he had found at the..I believe..Rossburn Co-op. They were something I had never heard of or seen before..so I did what any inquisitive person would do, I googled them. Tomahawk Chips . Aboriginal Owned, No Financial Assistance, Friendchip Choice Native Canadian Chip Corporation (Riverton, MB). I had mentioned these chips to people in the following weeks and low and behold, my family was in (I think) Onanole and they found some of them, BBQ and Ketchup to be exact. Now Tomahawk is a strange chip company, the chips seem to come secondary to the packaging. They have a website with an online store, that does not sell chips, just prints and shirts. I believe that their primary goal is to advertise Native Canadian artists through chip bags and raise founds for (it appears) the Riverton Friendship Centre. I dig what they're doing, it's uplifting (my only gripe is that I haven't seen them in Brandon and can't ord...

I remember when Needles//Pins' Shamebirds album came out in 2014, it was on a lot of best of lists at the end of the year. I made a mental note to check it out..but somehow it slipped through the cracks..not sure why. So this past year they released their follow up, Good Night, Tomorrow ..didn't miss the boat this time. Vancouver's Needles//Pins deliver gruff pop punk (sometimes 90's alt[ish] sometimes power popish) with boozey, heartbroken..weathered poetic lyrics. I dig. The vocals register on the higher side of the gruff spectrum with just the right amount of gravel (think Sainte Catherines/Leatherface). The music is mid to up tempo that makes ya nod your head and tap the ol' toe. After I thoroughly take in Good Night, Tomorrow I'm definitely going to take a step into the wayback machine and Shamebirds it up as well. Maybe it's not groundbreaking music but damn is it exquisite..and worth your time. I was in superstore recently checking out the 'nat...

Cape Cod Kettle Cooked Potato Chips...Sweet & Spicy Jalapeno. (I'm getting caught up on this review based on notes from October 2016). They don't have much of a scent. For a kettle cooked chip they aren't overly greasy but still provide a good crunch. They offer a great hot pepper (jalapeno) heat without getting all mountain dew extreme and stuff, they're hot but not too spicy. I didn't really taste the sweet part of their given name. When I breached the 1/4 bag mark I started to find the odd chip that has an initial sweetness to them..but they were few and far between, this was kind of a bummer as the sweetness was a nice change of pace. They don't really bring anything new to the jalapeno chip game but they more than hold their ground in that family. If you're looking for a standard jalapeno chip you'll be happy with this sack of flavoured salted potato slices...if you're hoping for something new and exciting..just keep walking. Since I hav...

Dark Thoughts is a band that up until a few weeks ago I had never heard of (thanks Razorcake) let alone heard..and let me tell you, they're fan-tastic. For the most part the vocals are very Ramones with slightly more aggressive music ( Ramonescore in the Weaselish vein).  Of the 12 songs on their S/T LP, 2 break the 2 minute mark (songs average a whopping 1m34s). The band provides very little information on the packaging (the band members photos are black squares with their names under them), the cover is black with plain white "DARK THOUGHTS" font centered, there's no insert and the lyrics are all on the back (Side A is all romantic relationship based lyrics, Side B is self loathing, being broke and then ends on some more relationship woes) in times new roman laid out very clean [I love the simplicity while still providing all the 'necessary' information]). This album is fun. Do you like fun? Listen to this album! (I'm late to the party, was released Ap...

I'm sitting here eating a praline nut mix with peanuts, cashews AND pecans..so it should go without saying that life's pretty good. You know what else was pretty good..some stuff that I consumed in 2017, below is a list of some of that stuff: Chip/Snack Division : - Covered Bridge chips . (these will likely show up ever year because they're tight AF. [I haven't tried their popcorn line yet..maybe in 2018, we'll see]) - Co-op Gold Pure chips. If you have co-op food stores in your region of Canada grab a bag of these. They're primarily black with a circular logo that says PURE in the centre of it. These chips might seem familiar..the back of the bag says, "Homegrown by the Albright Family in the heart of New Brunswick's potato country...russet potatoes..kettle cooked.." if that sounds familiar it should, if it doesn't. Do a little sleuthing and you might link these to a familiar 'tight AF' chip brand for a wicked price point. Hazzah...

This is just a rundown of my postings in 2017 including: the blog title, chip and music reference for anyone that doesn't want to read all them (I've done this each previous year 2015 and 2016 ): January 2017: Take the World I'm Coming Home with You - Music (for title): Kitty Kat Fan Club. This was a rundown of good things from 2016. Retten Til Forskellighed / Break It All - Music: The Assassinators - Sigt Efter Hjertet    Chip: Pringles vs No Name Salt & Vinegar tube chips February 2017: Is This a Test? - Music: Clowns - Bad Blood     Chips: Covered Bridge Sweet and Spicy Jalapeno Warm Beer & Wild Times - Books (Music themed): GFY Press/punkbooks.com     Chips: Uncle Ray's Kosher Dill and Smokey Chipotle & Jack Cheese March 2017 : Gyasi Went Home - Music: (for the title) Bedouin Soundclash (in the writing) staying sober for live music     Chips: Yum Yum Sriracha All I Wanted - Music: Jabber...