Year: 2022

Back in the late stages of the so-called “blog rap” era, just before streaming services became a thing in earnest and Billboard began counting streams as album-equivalent units, rap crews had proliferated all over the country, encompassing such loose confederations as the ASAP Mob, Raider Klan, and SaveMoney, the Chicago-based clique that included future superstars like Chance The Rapper and Vic Mensa in their numbers.

Since then, many of these groups have dispersed or been sublimated into the increasingly fragmented tapestry of the post-streaming landscape, and more than a few have been forgotten about. However, at least one, SaveMoney, is looking to make a comeback, backed by one of their most successful members, Chance The Rapper, who shared the group’s first single under the SaveMoney banner in nearly eight years, “Bag Boy.”

Featuring group members Joey Purp and Kami along with guest artist DEXLVL, the new track is a laid-back, guitar-driven slow-burner Chance tweeted out with the cryptic message, “And it begins,” suggesting that there may well be more coming — something Chance, Kami, and Joey even teased in 2018, though nothing came of it then. And while both Joey Purp and Kami have collaborated a few times over the years, he hasn’t often tagged the SaveMoney Twitter account (which retweeted his message), which could mean that the group is planning a larger reunion now that Chance and Vic are back on good terms, too. Check out Chance’s tweet below and stream the new track here.

I’ve watched Moses Storm’s Trash White comedy special multiple times since its debut on HBO Max earlier this year and a few things continue to stand out. Namely that this is something unique in tone and visual presentation for a comedy special, and that Storm’s portrait of his less than fairytale upbringing might be more resonant than you’d think when listening to tales about family grifts and living in an abandoned bus. Particularly if you had a less than perfect childhood. Or, at least, I know that was my experience as someone that moved something like 20 times in 20 years, never really finding comfort outside of my closed ranked family until it was time to leave.

Around a dozen years into a career that began at 18 — partly as a means of finding an outlet to express himself and some kind of vocation that wouldn’t hold his non-standard education against him — Storm is finally encountering the recognition of a job well done. But it’s not just craft on display here (including some of the skills he learned from his family, like the misdirection he’s applying with his “criticism” of TED Talk comedy specials in the special). It’s perseverance and emotional evolution. A reckoning spread over time that fueled his rise as a storyteller/comedian. As he told me when we spoke a couple of weeks ago about this long journey and his big ambitions for himself and comedy as a visual medium, it wasn’t easy getting people to give him the chance to do something different with inspired set design and audiovisual elements, raising the stakes on what is, essentially, his introduction to comedy fans everywhere. It also wasn’t quick to get to a place of forgiveness. Perhaps you can relate to that too.

I’ve had a few bumps along the road with my family too. So the special really spoke to me. Has there been any blowback for you with your family and you being so open on stage about your upbringing?

There’s always a constant battle with that.

A battle with yourself or battle with them?

With family members, because, I mean, there are things that are omitted that are not in there that are much worse, because I’m not talented enough to say these sad facts and then pull people out. I hope to get there one day. But yeah…there are two arguments, right? There’s one: it’s your story. You should do whatever. [What] I always feel guilty about is I’m talking about people that did not sign up for the public eye. It’s fine if I put something out and whatever publication wants to say whatever about me, but what I am doing is, I’m signing people up that did not sign up to be in this. So yes, there always is this respect for my siblings of, “okay, I know I really want to do this, but how is this going to make them feel?”

Before the special was ever turned in or released, I screened it for just my mom. So she didn’t have to find out at the same time as the general public did. I was like, “This is what this means to me. This is what I’m trying to do. You might not like it, but here’s what it is. And if something really hurts your feelings, I’ll take it out.” And she loved it. Because at the end of the day, it’s not someone bitching about their parents. It’s someone saying they forgive you because of their own mistakes.

I know that, within the context of my family, certain things made sense. But I think a lot of the time we share our stories, people judge those things without really knowing. So to me, there’s an affection woven throughout these stories that you’re telling. Almost like, that’s your tribe. And part of it is also pride of surviving. Is that fair to say?

Yeah. I cringe watching earlier stuff of mine because you just see an angry young man and I think “that’s not ready to be a show yet.” There’s the big mistake of like, if you’re in a really rough spot, you should get on stage and talk about it. And it’s not fully digested. And it was only when I came around to actual forgiveness… And a little bit more forgiveness happened, just putting the show together, because you have to write full, fleshed-out characters. No one’s just a villain in a vacuum who’s wrongdoing for no sake. There’s something behind it. And just trying to justify some of her behavior and some of the things we had to go through, even more forgiveness came from that. So it was only when I felt like I wasn’t complaining or it wasn’t this roast of my family that I felt like these stories were ready for the public to potentially rip apart.

There are other things that are in there that are just not ready. Because I accidentally found out that, oh shit, I am still very angry about that. It never goes away completely. But I don’t know. I’ve always liked watching performers that have fully processed it. I feel like they have something to say. Anyone can say they’re angry, but I think it’s more interesting to say how you got less angry, how you got over it. It is harder.

Is that journey of forgiveness something that happened largely because of your stage work or is it something that’s been happening off to the side?

It’s largely happening because of age. As you get older, you understand how just fallible you are and you’re own mistakes, how selfish I could be sometimes. I think that’s what the great thing is with age is you’ve finally come around to empathy. You know, I’ve never been one of those anti-PC comedians at all. It’s like if someone said a word that hurts their feelings, well then don’t say that. It’s as simple as that. Your job is to make people feel good, make them laugh. It’s not to push boundaries and be a truth sayer. At the end of the day, if you’re saying this is a comedy show and Netflix has categorized this as stand-up comedy… It’s just supposed to make me feel good and everything else is a bonus. If you can make people feel seen, if I can get something out of it… hearing you connect with it and having a similar experience, that always means more to me than someone just saying, “Oh, it’s funny. I like it. It’s great.” That’s cool, but when someone like you, who’s had a similar past, rough childhood, when they connect with it, that’s really been the most rewarding part.

Well yeah, everyone else’s childhoods were gumdrops and rainbows and Christmas carols. We don’t get enough stories to kind of remind us that kids with not the greatest childhood deserve to feel seen too sometimes.

It’s something that I wish I would’ve seen when I was going through it or when I was just angry about these things. I wish someone would’ve said “hey, some people just get lucky. They didn’t do anything. You didn’t do anything bad. It’s not that you’re not working hard enough. It’s not that your parents are some evil monsters. It’s just some people are born into a lucky situation.” It’s something that I wish I would’ve heard. I wish one of these performers would’ve said it.

With the response to this special, do you feel any internal pressure to quickly release the next one [which is teased at the end of this] and capitalize on people’s interest? A need to strike while it’s hot and get this out within the next year and then another one, another one. Is that something that’s weighing on your mind right now?

Not the time. It being good is the other thing. I think going through the past two years of not being able to perform has given me a lot more patience. So no, the worst thing I would do, because I took a huge gamble with the first one as far as “this is not a TED Talk, now here’s a TED Talk”… if it [the next one] wasn’t good, if it didn’t properly pay off, that would hurt worse to me than people saying, like, “What? We don’t remember that one.” I think these are meant to be watched back-to-back, in hindsight. It might be a bad idea, but it’s exciting and it scares the shit out of me. I’m not the best performer. I don’t know anything about the industry. There are no hard and fast rules. I just know that the things that have absolutely scared the shit out of me are the things that have worked out for me.

As you evolve as a comedian, you can get out of clubs that sell chicken wings and you can start getting into theaters because the problem with comedy clubs is you don’t have their attention. You have their business, they are there to buy food and drinks and support this brick and mortar place. And then you happen to be doing an hour because that’s how long it takes to order two drinks, an appetizer, and an entree. That’s why the hour is there.

The goal for me is to make something that’s authentic for me next. And as I can move in and build my own audience, I’m not relying on comedy clubs that have been very kind to me and put up a complete unknown, taking a chance on me. As you evolve as a comedian, you can get out of clubs that sell chicken wings and you can start getting into theaters because the problem with comedy clubs is you don’t have their [the audience’s] attention. Now that I have a piece of work, it’s like, here’s what I want to be doing. I built the set. Usually, when they say here, you should be doing a special, you get a red curtain, three purple lights and a jib crane to scoop in on your “dating be weird” jokes. I wanted to do more with mine because of the career I wanted. It was dressing for the job I want. So it was like, well, let me make a theatrical show that has visual elements and it has video and a set, a wardrobe that’s purposely chosen, every inch of the set is used or it’s relevant to the story because that’s the job I want.

You’re leaving out the large letters to spell out your name.

Yeah. Oh, how could I forget? What a great one, because if anyone was confused about who they’re seeing, there are big block letters with your name. You come out with that swoop shot. Why I want to direct specials… and that’s why I co-directed this one. Because I personally, like you, have a lot of pet peeves about stand-up specials, the block letters being one of them. The unnecessary jib shots that don’t match the performer’s pace, energy, and material.

I want to direct specials because I think the crutch is sometimes comedians want to just be rock stars in their special. So they shoot it like a concert and it’s not conducive to every performer. Nate Bargatze shouldn’t be shot with drone shots and smoke machines and big black letters. But someone like Kevin Hart should be. So it’s just about tailoring angles, lenses, and set and tone to each performer and making standup a more visual medium because that is what it has evolved into. Stand-up, outside of my show, is relatively cheap to produce. So it’s become more and more visual. But a lot of us comedians, we have not kept up with the pace. We just focus on the material because that’s all we’ve ever had to do. And you got to look at the way you watch standup. For me, I’m the demo for standup. I love it. I do it. I have a vested interest. And even when I’m watching a special I really care about, I’m still loading the dishwasher. I’m on my phone, texting. There’s no reason to really look.

I agree. It’s an art form that is stuck in neutral visually. Not just visually, topically too. I like Aziz’s comedy, but I’ve seen the fucking special where somebody walks down the stairs of the Comedy Cellar, “and this is where I got started” and then they sit on the stool.

It’s called Louis on FX. Yeah. It’s called every episode of Louis. Yeah.

I’ve seen that thing before. And why would you use the same delivery system?

Even something like the apology special is now a trope because there’s so much standup where you have to be on the stool because you’re so sorry. The fact that you and I both know what big block letters were means that this is something that’s been drilled into us and done over and over again. Now, the complicated thing is that’s authentic to Aziz and I’m sure a lot of people like that. And a lot of people like the big block letters, but I think if you’re a newer comedian, to cut through any noise, you have to do something different. They’re very fortunate because they’re talented and they have multiple specials that are great that people love. As you get later in your career, you can do things that are considered tropes or that have been done before. But if you’re trying to break through, if you’re no one, like I am, then you got to figure out your own lane because you’re never going to pass those other guys.

Was that difficult to get that level of artistic control and budget?

Yes, it’s been difficult at every single step and at things that you’d think wouldn’t be a fight were a fight. Not with HBO. It’s just the people that you hire and work with are used to doing the set it and forget it specials. So this is why I stepped up, because I was asking for a lot. So if you are going to ask for a lot, you better be prepared to do a lot. So me helping build the actual set, physically painting things, driving around the streets of LA and picking up garbage [to construct the set]… In After Effects, editing ink and water. These are things I did, not because I’m this auteur that needs to control every step. It’s just we didn’t have the money to hire someone to do that. And we didn’t have people that are trained to do that. So we all just learned, and thank God a lot of people from Team Coco [the special is produced by Conan O’Brien’s company] just came down and volunteered their time to help me out. Our production company was great, even helping me find someone to edit it with because I did the initial first pass. I’ve been in every single step of this and I can’t wait till I’m successful enough where I don’t have to be. [Laughs]

Moses Storm’s ‘Trash White’ is streaming now on HBO Max

The new era of Florence And The Machine launched last month when the group mailed mysterious teasers to their fans. Since then, a lot has happened. Namely, they’ve dropped videos for two new songs, “King” and “Heaven In Here.” All this time, there’s been no official news of an album, but now we finally have some: The group revealed today their next LP is called Dance Fever.

Florence Welch shared the art (which was created by Autumn de Wilde) on social media and described the project as “a fairytale in 14 songs [blood drop emoji].” She also noted the album will be available for pre-order tomorrow starting at 8 a.m. GMT (3 a.m. ET, midnight PT). The album does not currently have an announced release date or tracklist, but “King” and “Heaven In Here” will presumably be included.

Not long after revealing the album cover, Welch also shared that she’s dropping a video for “My Love” tomorrow, also at 8 a.m. GMT. She unveiled a 24-second teaser video for the clip, which features ethereal music and Welch on stage in a ballroom.

Meanwhile, the group has some plans for this summer, as they’re one of the headliners of this year’s stacked Mad Cool Festival, which is set to go down in July.

In 2005, the world was introduced to a new sound in hip-hop music, one that was strange but somehow undeniable. That sound has come to be known as “chopped-and-screwed,” as it was pioneered by Houston DJ Screw and came to eventually define the regional Texas sound before taking over the mainstream. The song that brought this once underground style to widespread awareness — or at least helped a whole bunch, along with Mike Jones’ “Still Tippin” — was “Sittin’ Sidewayz,” the debut single from diamond-grilled rapper Paul Wall.

In today’s new edition of React Like You Know, our panel — consisting of millennial and Gen-Z artists like Almighty Jay, ASAP Tyy, Baby Tate, Lakeyah, OhGeesy, and Houston’s own KenTheMan — weighs in on the Houston musical movement, as well as other regional staples like slabs (big, candy-painted, classic cars with rims and hydraulics), OG Ron C, and grills. Baby Tate even admits to not knowing that Paul Wall is white when the song first came out, but Strick explains it perfectly: “You might see a white boy with a grill and wonder what’s going on, but sh*t — he with us!”

Watch the new episode of React Like You Know above.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Capitalizing on The Batman‘s box office success, HBO Max has officially confirmed that the previously reported spinoff starring Colin Farrell‘s Penguin has received a straight-to-series order. Titled The Penguin, the limited series will expand on Farrell’s small, but pivotal role in The Batman and explore the inner-workings of the mobster as he capitalizes on the power vacuum created by the events of the film. The spinoff will be executive produced by Farrell, Dylan Clark, and The Batman director Matt Reeves.

“Colin exploded off the screen as the Penguin in ‘The Batman,’ and having the chance to thoroughly explore the inner life of that character on HBO Max is an absolute thrill,” Reeves said in a statement provided by HBO Max. “Dylan and I are so excited to work with Lauren in continuing Oz’s story as he grabs violently for power in Gotham.”

As for Ferrell, he’s ready to step back into the role’s prosthetics that made him completely unrecognizable as the iconic Batman villain.

“The world that Matt Reeves created for ‘The Batman’ is one that warrants a deeper gaze through the eyes of Oswald Cobblepot,” Farrell said in a statement. “I couldn’t be more excited about continuing this exploration of Oz as he rises through the darkened ranks to become The Penguin. Will be good to get him back on the streets of Gotham for a little madness and a little mayhem.”

The Penguin series order arrives on the heels of recent confusion over the state of The Batman spinoffs. In interviews to promote the film, Reeves revealed that the previously announced Gotham PD spinoff was not happening. However, he clarified those remarks by saying the show has “evolved” to focus on Arkham Asylum instead of the Gotham police.

As for The Penguin, the status of that show didn’t seem in question until the Gotham PD news threw the current state of the spinoffs into flux. However, it appears Warner Bros. and HBO Max are fully aboard the project.

The Batman is currently playing in theaters.

Irish soda bread is a classic dish that’s far easier to make than the taste might lead you to believe. Adding in Guinness Extra Stout (the bottle not the can) brings a wonderful sweetness and depth that carries this simple bread recipe from good to great. That’s what we’re going to do today.

The recipe below is, as we said, super easy. You can it while doing something else. The dough doesn’t need to kneaded. You don’t need to wait for the yeast to activate. It’s a quick bread — like Southern biscuits, scones, or frybread — and all you really need to do is fold some dry and wet ingredients into loose dough and bake it. Happy St. Paddy’s!

We’re adding some Guinness into the mix because we’re looking for a little more flavor and the iconic stout brings that. There’s a nice rich, malty, and even nutty energy to the Guinness. Plus, it doubles up on the Irish-ness of it all. Let’s dive in!

Also Read: The Top 5 UPROXX Recipe Posts of 2021

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• We Made The Delightful Pesto Pasta From ‘Luca’ — Here’s The Recipe
• We Made The Famous OG McDonald’s French Fries — Here’s Our Recipe
• How To Make Brisket Without A Smoker This Fourth Of July Weekend
• We Made The Cheesesteak From ‘Mare Of Easttown’ — Here’s Our Recipe

Guinness Soda Bread

Ingredients:

• 9 oz. flour
• 7 oz. wholewheat flour
• 5 oz. oats
• 0.5 oz. baking soda
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tbsp. honey
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 cup Guinness Extra Stout
• Extra oats

These are all pretty straightforward ingredients you can buy at any grocery store. The Guinness needs to specifically be the “Extra Stout” version that comes in regular beer bottles. You don’t want to use the bottles or cans of Guinness Draught that have the widget that makes it creamy. This calls for old-school Guinness. It’s slightly more bitter, malty, and hoppy. It’s a lot fizzier too, which adds some air to the soda bread.

What You’ll Need:

• Small loaf pan
• Baking paper
• Large mixing bowl
• Wooden spoon
• Scale
• Measuring cup and spoons
• Oven mitts
• Cooling rack
• Bread knife

Method:

• Preheat the oven to 400F.
• In a large mixing bowl, add the dry ingredients and mix with a wooden spoon to integrate.
• Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix with a wooden spoon just until the dough comes together (pictured above). You don’t need to need or over mix the dough.
• Line the loaf pan with the baking paper, making sure the paper comes up over the edge of the pan on all sides.
• Spoon the dough into the pan and use the spoon to even it out.
• Sprinkle with more oats.
• Place the loaf pan into the preheated oven, right in the middle. Bake for five minutes and then lower the temperature to 350F and bake for another 30 minutes.
• Remove the loaf pan from the oven. Gently remove the loaf from the pan by using the edges of the baking paper. Peel the paper from the loaf, it should come off easily.
• Let the loaf rest for ten minutes on the cooling rack before slicing.

Bottom Line:

One bite of this and all that I can think is “I miss Ireland.” There’s a lovely sweetness from the Guinness and honey that’s very subtle. It draws on the softness of the oats and robustness of the whole wheat.

I 100 percent ate the first slice of this with some nice Irish butter, which melted right into the crumb of the soda bread and got into all the nooks and crannies. It was fantastic. Next, I busted out some cold-smoked salmon and had a great lunch.

Not to belabor the point, but this took all of five minutes to get into the oven from start to finish. Then it’s just waiting for it to bake and slightly cool. It’s an easy bread to make as you work or do some house chores or stare at your phone. Plus, it’s really goddamn delicious still warm from the oven.

No cap: the whole loaf was gone within an hour.

A quick Google search informs me that Stephen Miller, the far-right former-Trump adviser who appears on the Southern Poverty Law Center’s list of extremists, made $179,700 a year during his time working in the White House. That’s a decent chunk of change (enough to buy and throw way 80 dollars worth of sushi, at least) — but apparently not enough for him to get off his mom and dad’s family plan.

The Hill reports that on Wednesday, Miller “sued to block a subpoena for his phone records from the House Jan. 6 committee, arguing the panel’s request was overly broad in part because Miller’s account is linked to a family phone plan shared with his parents.” (Miller is on the committee’s radar for spreading misinformation about the 2020 election.)

Miller’s court filing lists a California real estate company, Carron Drive Apartments, as his co-plaintiff, and states that the firm is the subscriber of a T-Mobile “family plan” account used by Miller’s parents and their children, including him.

The 15-page complaint reads, “Because Mr. Miller’s phone number is included with other numbers assigned by T-Mobile to the Family Plan Account, in the absence of explicit instructions from the Committee, it is possible that T-Mobile may respond to the Subpoena by producing data for other numbers assigned to the Family Plan Account.”

With all that money he’s saving, you’d think Miller could afford a better hair spray.

Rootin’ tootin’ Lauren Boebert let the world know that she isn’t really keeping track of what’s happening in Russia these days. She does, however, remain dedicated to heckling President Biden while he discusses his late son, Beau, in the most public of forums. And now she’s combined these twin interests (showing off her utter confusion about congressionally-required knowledge and randomly bashing the president) and made everyone wonder what she meant when she compared Biden to “Prince John.”

This went down on Fox News’ Jesse Watters Primetime, where Boebert was on hand to discuss gas prices (she’s in favor of the “Drill Baby Drill” tactic) and how Biden was reportedly struggling to immediately replace the 3% of U.S. oil imports that come from Russia. Boebert expressed concern about how this oil might come from Alaska, and she thought Biden would sell it to another country. None of this train of thought made sense, and then she called him “Prince John,” and said, “[T]hey are taxing us into poverty.”

One of many possible interpretations for “Prince John” would have been the antagonist of Disney’s 1973 version of Robin Hood, but surely, this wasn’t what Boebert was actually referencing, right? Well, Boebert clarified in the harsh light of day, and yup. Also, she believes that “Prince John > Joe Biden.”

Alright. Boebert wants everyone to know that the crying and thumb-sucking Robin Hood nemesis is preferable to Biden. She did make part of her reference relevant (to the claim that she’s attempting to make), since John’s brief tenure only spread poverty, but as for what this has to do with gas prices and Russia invading Ukraine, well, someone will have to ask for further explanation (if there is one).

The rise of craft brewing over the past few decades has led to an increase in unique, innovative, and exciting beer styles. We’re talking about the New England IPA, various experimental fruited sours, barrel-aged stouts and porters, milkshake IPAs, and countless other popular takes on old standards. This constant push for innovation means we’re never surprised to hear about a new beer style catching on.

Today, we’re turning our attention to the newest “it beer.” The very trendy, very tasty Cold IPA.

Back in 2018, Portland, Oregon’s Wayfinder Brewing created this style when it released Relapse IPA. The brew was made to pay tribute to Relapse Records and the goal was to craft an over-the-top version of a West Coast IPA. They wanted a beer that was dry, hoppy, and clean but with a finish that was crisp and refreshing, not an oily dank bomb. To do this, they used pilsner malts, adjunct lager malts (like rice and corn), and lager yeast.

In essence, they melded lager tactics with an India pale ale’s vibe. Taken all together, they’ve made something wholly unique.

Weirdly, the Cold IPAs name has nothing to do with temperature. Cold IPAs are simply crisper and closer to India pale lagers than your average West Coast IPA, while also having some fruity characteristics like your favorite New England IPA but without the haziness. Overall, they’re exciting, thirst-quenching, and growing in popularity every day.

It’s time to get on the bandwagon — so we’re calling out some examples for you to try below. Naturally, I ranked them based on my own palate, but trust me this list is Kendall Roy approved (ABATT).

8) Bell’s Cold Hearted

ABV: 7%

Average Price: Limited Availability

The Beer:

Like all Cold IPAs, Bell’s doesn’t want drinkers to mistake this beer for an India pale lager. It’s dry-hopped with Centennial hops during fermentation. It also contains specialty malts, lager yeast, and cane sugar. This creates its signature crisp, piney, and citrus flavor.

Tasting Notes:

This beer’s nose is bready, piney, and yeasty with some resinous pine and slight citrus. The palate continues this trend with bread-like malts, some citrus, and a slight fruity flavor, but… not much else. There’s little to no piney hop flavor.

Overall, a decent example of the style, but not overly thrilling.

Bottom Line:

Cold Hearted is a good take on the style. Like we mentioned above, it’s not the most exciting example of a Cold IPA, but it gets the job done.

7) Rogue Ales Knuckle Buster

ABV: 6.1%

Average Price: $11 for a six-pack

The Beer:

This 6.1 percent ABV Cold IPA was created to pay tribute to hard-working people everywhere. Brewed with pilsner malts, flaked rice, and Belma, Nelson Sauvin, Hallertau Blanc, Motueka, Comet, and Cascade hops, it’s known for its balance between malts, hop bitterness, and pine.

Tasting Notes:

This beer has a really fruity nose highlighted by aromas of ripe berries, guava, mango, and tangerines, as well as sweet malts and pine needles. On the palate, you’ll find flavors of resinous, dank pine, bread-like malts, tropical fruits, and piney hop bitterness at the finish.

Bottom Line:

Knuckle Buster is definitely not a bad beer but leans a little too far in the fruity flavor and not enough in the malts for my liking.

6) Hopworks Winter Ritual

ABV: 6.7%

Average Price: $12 for a four-pack of 16-ounce cans

The Beer:

Released back in November, this Cold IPA is brewed with El Dorado, Citra, and Azacca hops as well as 2-Row and DextraPils malts and Flaked Rice. The result is a crisp, light, and highly drinkable. This is a well-balanced IPA that stays true to the style.

Tasting Notes:

On the nose, you’ll find aromas of orange peels, lemon curd, tropical fruits, grapefruit, and slightly sweet malts. The palate reveals notes of pine, apricot, tangerine, grapefruit, mango, honey, and bready malts. The finish is slightly piney with a gentle, dry ending.

Bottom Line:

Hopworks Winter Ritual is a great example of brewers taking the Cold IPA style and running with it. It’s fruity, piney, dry, and crisp, making it a great beer any time of year.

5) Reuben’s Brews Stay Frosty

ABV: 6.9%

Average Price: $11 for a six-pack

The Beer:

This Cold IPA was brewed with ale yeast, Weyermann Pils and Gambrinus Pils malts, as well as flaked rice and Simcoe, Centennial, Columbus, and Cascade hops. It’s known for its clean sweet flavor, piney hops, and crisp finish.

Tasting Notes:

The nose features grassy notes, pine needles, floral hops, and nice, tangy citrus notes. Drinking it surfaces flavors of clover honey, bready, sweet malts, spruce tips, tangerines, lime zest, all with a crisp, bitter, memorable finish.

Bottom Line:

This is a complex, well-rounded example of the style. It’s also a great gateway into the style for West Coast IPA fans with the myriad Pacific Northwest hops that are featured.

4) pFriem Cold IPA

ABV: 6.2%

Average Price: Limited Availability

The Beer:

pFriem is a big name in the craft beer world. It’s no surprise the Hood River, Oregon-based brewery tried its hand at the Cold IPA craze. This version is brewed with Gambrinus Pilsner and Rahr Old World pilsner malts as well as lager yeast, rice, and Mosaic and Strata hops.

Tasting Notes:

At first sniff, it’s obvious this is a very fruity beer. There are notes of grapefruit, pineapple, honeydew melon, and tons of bright citrus that moves into pine and slightly sweet, bready malts. On the palate, you’ll find hints of lemon curd, honey, sweet malts, more tropical notes, and a crisp, dry finish.

Bottom Line:

This is an interesting beer. It smells like an explosion of fruit, but while there is a ton of fruit in the taste, it’s not overwhelming and allows the malts and hops to shine through with a real balance to everything.

3) Wayfinder Cold IPA

ABV: 7%

Average Price: $6 for a 16-ounce can

The Beer:

The originator of the Cold IPA still makes one (Relapse IPA was a limited-edition beer). This iteration is made with an adjunct lager malt bill, two-row American pilsner malt, lager yeast fermentation, and dry-hopped.

Tasting Notes:

Complex aromas of orange zest, ripe berries, tropical fruits, and a light malty flavor fill your nostrils. The palate follows suit with more ripe berries, tangerines, grapefruit, fruit esters, dried hay, bready, sweet malts, and gentle, dry bitterness that leaves you wanting more.

Bottom Line:

If you’re only going to try one Cold IPA, make it Wayfinder. They invented the style and it’s always a great idea to start your journey at the beginning.

2) Fremont Brewing Baxter

ABV: 7%

Average Price: $5 for a 16-ounce can

The Beer:

Fremont’s Cold IPA is named for a pet, lovingly named Baxter. It’s brewed with Pilsner and 2-row pale malts, flaked corn, as well as Citra, Cryo, Centennial, Citra, and Strata hops. The result is a blast of tropical fruit that’s a perfect for spring.

Tasting Notes:

Ripe pineapple, mango, guava, and grapefruit dominate the nose with ripe berries, wet grass, and dank pine. The palate follows along with more grapefruit, juicy pineapple, citrus zest, sweet malts, and more resinous floral pine. It all ends with a slightly bitter, sweet, and fruity finish.

Bottom Line:

This is a Cold IPA for fans of fruity IPAs. It has the notable IPA bitterness and dank pine, but it’s the tropical fruit flavor that takes center stage, which makes it really shine and nearly top this list.

1) Ecliptic Cold IPA

ABV: 8%

Average Price: Limited Availability

The Beer:

This limited-edition beer was a collaboration between Wayfinder and Ecliptic. This Cold IPA was brewed using lager yeast and pilsner malts as well as Talus and Pacific Sunrise hops. The result is one of the best examples of the style you can find (if you can actually find it).

Tasting Notes:

Aromas of ripe pineapple, grapefruit, sweet malts, berries, and bright pine meet your nose before your first sip. Drinking it highlights flavors like cantaloupe, caramelized pineapple, bready malts, passionfruit, citrus zest, and just a hint of dank pine needles. The finish is clean, bittersweet, and dry.

Bottom Line:

Even though this wasn’t the original Cold IPA, we believe this is the best example of the style. It’s sweet, clean, crisp, and dry. It’s also tasty as all get out — everything you could want in a Cold IPA.

My Chemical Romance has added a slew of new dates to one of the most anticipated tours of the year. The new shows will take place across ten new cities across the US, as well as additional evenings in Brooklyn, Toronto, and Boston.

On top of 14 new arena shows, the Gerard Way-fronted band has added additional tickets to some of their already sold-out shows. Joining MCR on their extensive North American tour on select dates are Badflower, Devil Master, Dilly Dally, Ghosh, Kimya Dawson, Meg Myers, Midtown, Nothing, Shannon And The Clams, Soul Glo, Surfbort, Taking Back Sunday, The Bouncing Souls, The Homeless Gospel Choir, The Lemon Twigs, Thursday, Turnstile, Waterparks, and Youth Code.

General on-sale begins Friday, March 11. Check out the full tour schedule below.

08/20 — Oklahoma City, OK @ Paycom Center
08/21 — San Antonio, TX @ AT&T Center
08/23 — Nashville, TN @ Bridgestone Arena
08/24 — Cincinnati, OH @ Heritage Bank Center
08/26 — Raleigh, NC @ PNC Arena
08/27 — Belmont Park, NY @ UBS Arena
08/29 — Philadelphia, PA @ Wells Fargo Center
08/30 — Albany, NY @ MVP Arena
09/01 — Uncasville, CT @ Mohegan Sun Arena
09/02 — Montreal, QC @ Centre Bell
09/04 — Toronto, ON @ Scotiabank Arena
09/05 — Toronto, ON @ Scotiabank Arena
09/07 — Boston, MA @ TD Garden
09/08 — Boston, MA @ TD Garden
09/10 — Brooklyn, NY @ Barclays Center
09/11 — Brooklyn, NY @ Barclays Center
09/13 — Detroit, MI @ Little Caesars Arena
09/15 — St. Paul, MN @ Xcel Energy Center
09/16 — Chicago, IL @ Riot Fest
09/20 — Newark, NJ @ Prudential Center
09/21 — Newark, NJ @ Prudential Center
09/23 — Dover, DE @ Firefly Music Festival
09/24 –Sunrise, FL @ FLA Live Arena
09/27 — Houston, TX @ Toyota Center
09/28 — Dallas, TX @ American Airlines Center
09/30 — Denver, CO @ Ball Arena
10/02 — Portland, OR @ MODA Center
10/03 — Tacoma, WA @ Tacoma Dome
10/05 — Oakland, CA @ Oakland Arena
10/07 — Las Vegas, NV @ T-Mobile Arena
10/08 — Sacramento, CA @ Aftershock Festival
10/11 — Los Angeles, CA @ The Forum
10/12 — Los Angeles, CA @ The Forum
10/14 — Los Angeles, CA @ The Forum
10/15 — Los Angeles, CA @ The Forum
10/17 — Los Angeles, CA @ The Forum
10/22-23 — Las Vegas, NV @ When We Were Young
10/29 — Las Vegas, NV @ When We Were Young

Some of the artists mentioned are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.