BA Johnston in his natural state. Photo cribbed from his Twitter.
Shit Sucks by Hamilton, Ontario-based everyman BA Johnston was perhaps the most divisive album nominated for the 2015 Polaris Music Prize Long List and split critics, fans and Polaris followers into two clear camps.
The haters, of which there were many (including enough Polaris jurors that Shit Sucks failed to make the 10 album Polaris Short List), viewed Johnston’s album as schtick, an unfunny musical comedy by a pizza-obsessed loser.
The lovers, though, saw a lot more to Shit Sucks. To these people Johnston was and is funny. They created a Twitter movement on his behalf. They even enlisted the support of Hitler. For them, Johnston’s confessional songs poked at that same wounded, fragile humanity that made Rodney Dangerfield forever question why he couldn’t get no respect.
There is, however, an overlooked third faction in the Shit Sucks debate — foodies. See, in his own way, Johnston is a food connoisseur, a man who has immortalized t-bone steaks, garlic fingers, english muffins and western sandwiches in song, and who dreams of having a deep fryer in his bedroom.
For these people Shit Sucks reveals many unexpected and often melted cheese-laden delights. We put on our best chili boots and decided to track all the food references on BA Johnston’s Shit Sucks album. The results were… delicious:
“Couch Potato Alright”
* cool ranch
* pocket Cheezees
* double dipped corn chips
“I Remember Skinny Jeans The Last Time Around”
* Foodland
“When Is Trash Day?”
* cat food tins
* pizza boxes
* buffalo wings
* burnt toast
“Pizza Party For One”
* pizza
* Little Caesars, Salvatore’s, Uncle Fatty’s, Cutthroat’s, Chicago Style, Pizza Perfect, Nino’s
* pepperoni
“I Don’t Want To Go To The No Frills”
* Oreos
* butter
* steak
* meat
* Dr. Oetker pizza
* Shreddies
* Faygo soda
“Gonna End Up Working In Fort McMurray”
* Pizza Hut
“Bat In The House”
* Delissio pizza
* pizza
“The Commute”
* Special K
* Tim Horton’s coffee
* McDonald’s coffee
“IKEA Hotdog”
* IKEA hotdogs
“Drinking On My Mom’s Dime”
*Golden Wedding
“Old And Lame”
* food court
* a submarine sandwich he’s too high to eat
* 7/11
* chocolate milk
“Nuke Toronto”
* nothing good to eat
“What A Wonderfully Mediocre Day”
* beers
* no name ruffles
* chip dip
* Foodland
* discounted garlic bread
* garlic
* margarine
* bread
“You Can Love Someone And Hate The Things They Love”
* assorted subs
“Shitty Cat”
* taco meat
* tomato patch
“BK Has A New King”
* Burger King
* Whopper Jr
* Whopper Wednesday
* Big Fish sandwich
* Whopper
* Water
* Soda Pop
Risky Fuel 