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The Way that I Live

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 the bag. As far as SC&O go, if the price is right pick em up.

What's that? How is the Barbeque (technically Off Road Joe's Barbeque)? Wow, quite a surprisingly full smoky flavour. These are close cousin of mesquite bbq, there's a definite sweetness and smoked flavour with hints of old school barbeque 'heat' in the aftertaste. This is a really interesting barbeque flavour that's evenly distributed. Chips are the same as described above. If you see a sac I'd recommend grabbing yourself one.

Now for everyone's favourite classic flavour, Sea Salt & Vinegar. Well, that..was disappointing. The flavour is very weak on the vinegar side. I guess it's evenly distributed..though the distribution of flavour is basically just salt. Chips are same as previously described.I ate them in the order laid out here so this was an anticlimactic review.

When I was down in Norman I went to a local record store and picked up some records that I'd never heard of. One of these records was a Split 33rmp 7" between Mumford's (Ames, Iowa) and Samuel Locke Ward and the Boohoos (Iowa City, Iowa). Mumford's side is a single song, The Way that I Live, which was a really enjoyable mellow song. Acoustic music including brass, with quirky funny lyrics. They don't sound like the Weakerthans but I could see Mumford's opening for John K. I really enjoyed it. Samuel Locke Ward's side is 3 songs, When it's Gone (it's Gone), Tell it to the Man of Diminishing Clout, and Haunt You. This side was a little more aggressive with fuzzed out vocals, not quite garage (but there's hints), not quite punk (but he probably spends time around the freegan edges of the scene) and not quite as immediately captivating as the flip side of the 7". Cheaply recorded weirdo rock with fuzz and distortion is my best summary. After my first listen I was very meh..with this listen it's growing on me a little bit, maybe in the future I'll think SLW is fantastic..who knows. Based on bandcamp Samuel Locke Ward is prolific AF, Mumford's recorded output hasn't been as frequent but they're still kicking. You should check out both bands, they seem to be making music for the right reasons. But don't take my word for it.

Stay hydrated,
MARC

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