Skip to main content

Have the Time

When I was..17?..I was at the CD Plus across from Sportsmans and I made some great purchases. I grabbed a copy of Better off Dead (strictly based on Lanemeyer naming themselves after it), Op Ivy's S/T discography CD and Give em the Boot II (Hellcat Records). I can't remember why I picked up Give em the Boot II (maybe it was Rancid's cover of if the kids are united..), anyway, damn that comp was awesome. The mix of ska, punk and other punk adjacent genres on it is almost unbeatable. It introduced me to at least a handful of bands that I followed for quite some time..and some that I follow to this day. One of those bands that are still in rotation to this day is The Slackers. From first listen of the bouncy Have the Time they had my attention. For a while I just listened to their songs that were on the various Give em the Boot comps. Eventually (since this was the mid 00's) I acquired a few of The Slackers albums digitally (The Question and Peculiar) but for some reason to this day I still don't own a physical Slackers album..which is weird, because I listen to them somewhat frequently (mostly streaming these days [simply due to the aforementioned lack of physical {other times through my old 80gig iPod}]). If you haven't listened to The Slackers before (go do it now) they play ska that is heavily influenced by Jamaican ska/reggae. Some of the songs are bouncier while others have a more smooth soul influenced flavour to them. There's hints of the blues in the mix as well as one would expect with the ska/reggae ties. Vic Ruggiero's slightly smokey/gravely yet beautifully smooth voice delivers a mix of political or socially conscious lyrics, sometimes just telling dark stories. I was thinking that The Slackers were a mid 90's band but according to their Wiki they formed in 1991 with their first album, Better Late Than Never, in 1996. They're technically 3rd wave, but they're about as far from the 3rd wave sound as I could imagine. Go get your skank on.

Last week my wife brought home a bag of Kettle Brand Potato Chips, Ranch (great taste...naturally). She saw me notice them on the counter and asked if I had tried them before. As far as I can remember I haven't, I've seen them on the shelf but never actually purchased them. I quite enjoy ranch..and when Kettle Brand nails a flavour they're bangin'..so it's kind of surprising that I haven't tried a bag of these chips yet. When I opened the bag for a sniff I was met with a scent similar to sour cream and onion (which made complete sense). The first chip I threw in my mouth however I was quite surprised by, it wasn't quite a flavour explosion but it was definitely a flavour slapping that I didn't expect. Tang. A bit of the SC&O flavour that I expected with some garlic thrown in the mix. The more I ate the more they started to taste like ranch..mixed with sour cream (which I do mix together to dip my chips from time to time). They're actually quite tasty. One foot is firmly in the SC&O family so they're not going to become series regulars, but they're a pretty good bag of chips. The hint of tang is just enough to keep your interest for a 220g bag.

Stay hydrated,
marc

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

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...
Post a Comment
Read more

Antoinette

 At the end of 2023 I saw Quit It! play in Winnipeg at the Handsome Daughter. I typically try to catch the opening bands, because I like being introduced to new music. One of the opening bands was Leon's Getting Larger, LGL (not sure if they ever abbreviate their band name like that [it reminds me of LWL, the Jersey pop punk band from the late 90s early 2000s, I'll Always Remember the 6th is such a banger {LGL doesn't really sound much like LWL, other than a bit of off center pop sounding...where was I going with this}]) were really fun to watch and they produce a sound that I don't hear very often coming out of Manitoba (maybe I just typically run in a different musical circle?). Anyway, Leon's Getting Larger put out their first album late last year, You Be Good Now ...which saw a vinyl release earlier this month (February 2025). I ordered a copy and it came to my door late last week. This album's great. Leon's Getting Larger has a couple singin' voices...
Post a Comment
Read more

And Nothing Is Forever

It happened. I started wondering if it ever would. It's been 16 years. People who were born after 4:13 Dream became teenagers and started driving between 4:13 and Songs Of A Lost World. Am I complaining that The Cure took 16 years to put out another album? No. They don't owe me anything. If Lost World never came out that would have been perfectly fine. Mr. Smith and his cohorts provided the world with hours and hours of fantastic music. In 2024 they added 49 minutes and 16 seconds into their absolutely amazing catalogue. A lot of the lead-up to Lost World spoke of the darkness of the album, the very few reviews that I've glanced at have mentioned the darkness as well. Like, I sort of see it, but to me, it's more of a heavy album (not like metal heavy, more so that there's some serious weight to this piece of art) and sonically epic soundscapes. There's a lot of brightness in the music and vocal melodies. Don't get me wrong, the lyrics are super bleak and if ...
Post a Comment
Read more