Tales of the Salty Bag

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...