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