Tales of the Salty Bag

As a consumer I could be better . I'm constantly searching for the new. I find an amazing bag of chips, I wonder what the other flavours from that brand are like. I find an artist/band that puts out a banger of an album, yeah I'll savor it for a while however I eventually find myself asking when the next album's going to be released. I'm not saying that I'll abandon the old album, but there's always a part of me looking for that next release. Maybe it's just that I want the feeling of 'new' again, or maybe I'm an insatiable prick of a consumer who can't just appreciate what an artist(s) have given me. This isn't to say that I can't accept a break up or retirement, but when there's that potential for the new new then that takes up real estate in my head. I've mentioned a couple bands that fall into this longing for new category in my year end round up...I think every year that I've been putting out this blog. These would be...

 A wise man once said, " Pretzels are for drunks and hosers ". Well, wise might be an overstatement. Regardless, sometimes it's pretzel time. Tonight is one of those times thanks to some 56g bags of Pretzel Pzazz that I found at the Dollar Tree recently. As I was walking down the "chip aisle" after grabbing some 102g bags of Covered Bridge some brightly coloured little bags caught my eye near the candy section of the "chip aisle". Upon closer inspection, these bright little bags were flavoured pretzels, Spicy Dill Pickle to be exact. As I let my eye wander slightly to the left I noticed that there was also an All Dressed flavour. Well dang, how can I pass up on a 56g deal like these. I'm not generally into pretzels but the flavours were quite promising. Because spicy dill pickle smacks on chips I grabbed 2 bags. I consumed my first bag of Pretzel Pzazz 'seasoned pretzel pieces' Spicy Dill Pickle variety a week or so ago. My initial impressi...

 Mike Park puts out fantastic music, either with music that he's physically making or albums that he puts out through Asian Man Records he rarely puts out something that I'm not into. I think it's because he puts out music that he believes in. One of the bands that falls into the 'puts out through Asian Man' category is Sarchasm. I got their first couple LPs that Mr. Park put out (Beach Blanket Bummer Pop [2019] and S/T [2020]) and quite enjoyed them but when Conditional Love came out at the end of 2022 I for some reason didn't check it out and therefore never purchased the album....that is until the pre-order for the new Abruptors album popped up. I was trying to find an album or two to fill out my order and put on Conditional Love and was suddenly disappointed in myself for missing out on 2 months of listening to Conditional Love. This album hits so hard, which is somewhat bitter sweet as it's Sarchasm's swan song..to quote Homer Simpson, "And wh...

 Near the end of 2019 Rational Anthem put out It's Only Permanent , I didn't initially blog about it because it's a pop punk masterpiece and I didn't want to do it a disservice. That should be enough to get you to go check it out. If you require a bit more of a breakdown here you go.   I've been listening to Rational Anthem since I found them through Traffic Street in 2009...I want to say it was the Apocalypse Meow split (or was it through Troublemake? Doesn't really matter) and have thoroughly enjoyed them since day one, but there was something about It's Only Permanent that really hit me in the Blink 182 void. To me this feels like what should have been Blink's follow up to Dude Ranch, it's a sound adjacent to the best parts of Blink's TOYPAJ but without the contrivedness..contrivity? (I don't know, Blink 182 after Dude Ranch felt a little too contrived at times [though I celebrate their catalogue through Self Titled]) or immature lyrics. I...

The album Lucky by Fifteen is amazing. Yes, this album came out in 1999 so this may or may not be new news to you. I had never paid much attention to Fifteen until I heard My Congressman as the intro song to Murf Meyer is Self-Medicated - Weekly Dose podcast. This lead to me checking out Lucky and I'm so happy that I did. Jeff Ott has a unique singing voice which may take a while to really sink it's hooks into you (I know it did for me), but once it's hooks are sunk you can just sit back and enjoy. Jeff's cadence phrasing add to the depth of the lyrical content perfectly. The darkness present in the lyrics is offset by the optimism that the subject matter is delivered in in addition to the sarcastic sense of humor. The music is primarily rooted in east bay pop punk with hints of grunge. Lucky makes me angry that 24 years later the exact same conversations are happening while simultaneously provides me with motivation to be a better person.  When I saw tha...

 Compliments EXTRAAA! Flavour (ridged potato chips) Buffalo Wing & Blue Cheese aren't terribly fragrant. They have those mini ridges, you know, the ones that are like a couple millimeters deep (Ruffles style, if you've ever had Ruffles [if not then my description better be sufficient]). The crunch is average (for non-kettle cooked). The seasoning is middleish for coverage, I wouldn't describe these as extra flavour, let alone extraaa! but that's marketing, putting ADEQUATE! Flavour probably doesn't have the same selling power. There's a mild sweetness combined with a mix of medium hot buffalo sauce and fake blue cheese flavour (I'm not quite sure how to describe the blue cheese flavour, it doesn't taste like I just chunked off a piece of cheese and ate it, but it tastes like blue cheese that is some sort of gelatinous spread where you're not super turned off by it, but it's also not something to write home about...I don't know, I'm so...

 Slide Cinnamon and Sugar chips. I shouldn't have to say more, but just in case you're closed minded, these chips bang. Thiiiiick cut potato chips with cinnamon and sugar distributed perfectly. The potatoes and oil provide a buttery goodness that the cinnamon and sugar is destined to pair with. These are simple yet genius and taste like you just buttered a piece of toast and sprinkled cinnamon and (white) sugar on top. Did I mention these were cinnamon and sugar flavoured. If you're able to get your hands on these Wisconsin gems, do so. If you're not able to get your hands on these, I don't know, cut your hands off because what use are they then?  When I had previously thought about writing about Slide's C and S chips I came up with the perfect musical pairing in my mind, but I can't for the life of me remember what it was. I really should have written it down. Maybe it was Cadence Weapon as a whole, and not just a specific album (because his music isn't...