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King Cake Baby

 9 years after his last Peanuts and Corn (P&C) album (just about 3 years after his last album [bangin' colab with Rob Crooks] Schadenfreude [that I wrote words about Dec 2020]), Bazooka Joe 204 (second under Bazooka Joe [luckily adding 204 with this release to really help his SEO {fka John Smith}]) blessed us with a stellar 9 track album this past October, Prairie Nilsson. If you want a breakdown of songs straight from the horses' mouth, go check out the 3 part podcast that Mr. Joe did with bigmcenroe (the albums producer, Mr. P&C) where they discussed each song from Prairie Nilsson and provided comparisons to songs in the John Smith P&C back catalogue. The beats on the album are lush and Ol' Man Winter wears his politics and life on his sleeve while also providing observations that paint a full picture of the good and bad without judgement. So, King Cake Baby is one of my favourite songs that Bazooka Joe, Sloppy Joe, John Smith, whatever you want to call him has put out. I think this is peak Joe providing observations that coming from a lesser writer could come off as either patronizing or judgemental, but from Joe's perspective it's a realistic and at times humorous story about a character that I definitely know my own version of...and the beat/production is borderline disorienting, especially with the layered and baby voiced chorus in the last half of the song. Something about The Prestige reminds of the aggression found on Schedenfreude, if you told me that this was a b-side from that album I don't think I would question it. Iowanna is a dense earworm that is just pummeling. That I Knew What For is a swinging banger, I was lucky enough to listen to this one for the past year because Bazooka Joe sent me it a while ago, which definitely set a high bar for my expectations of this album that was fully met. The Stone capping off the album is heavy, the beat is soothing and the lyrics are cinematic.

So, when Target in Canada closed up that meant the end of Spicy Ketchup chips which I lamented in one of my earlier blog posts in 2015. It was the end of a fantastic flavour, there were no other brands that produced a spicy ketchup flavour....until now. A couple months ago I saw a post from a fellow chip addict on IG (sorry, I can't remember exactly who it was) of Hardbite (handcrafted-style chips) SPICY KETCHUP potato chips. I tried to find them to order on the internets..but couldn't find any...until someone dropped me a tip. Costco baby! I could get a 625g bag of these (hopefully) bangin' potato chips. Now, I bet you're wondering if these chips lived up to my expectations. Well, in case this is your first time reading this blog and you didn't take a cue from the Prairie Nilsson words above...

The chips are kettle cooked and what I would consider bite sized (max 5cm diameter or so [I guess that's due to non-gmo?]). Good crunch, they're not greasy, but the oil is welcomed in the flavour mix. The typical ketchup chip seasoning (tomatoes, bitta sweetness, I'm pretty sure a bit of vinegar but that sort of gets blended into the heat) evenly matched with a nice natural tasting hot pepper heat. The ketchup seasoning mixes in just enough ketchup sweetness to pair with the spice beautifully. It's been so long since I've had the Target (Archer Farms) version of this glorious flavour, so I can't compare them that well..what I can tell you though, is that I believe these are a very similar flavour. The heat gets a bit of forehead sweat going without being a feat of strength. These chips are all flavour, no feat, and you are rewarded handsomely for dipping your toe..err, hand..into the bag. I hope they're here to stay, and if not I'll take em while I can get em.

Stay hydrated, 

Marc

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