Warning: lots of NSFW language throughout.

I know I rarely give bad reviews and I’m not going to start now. Say Anything’s first major release “…is a Real Boy” is a refreshing departure from everything that is traditional “pop” music. With rebellious Offspring-like lyrics (i.e. “I called her on the phone and she touched herself. She touched herself. She touched herself”) and original beats, Say Anything has found itself in constant rotation on my iPod.

A couple of the songs (”Alive with the Glory of Love” & “Wow, I can get sexual too”) are getting more and more radio play and its only a matter of time until the larger stations start to pick it up. While the singles are great, the double-disc set of 20 songs is a quality listen from start to finish and at just $6.99 on iTunes (for those of you playing at home, that’s less than $0.35/song) you can’t afford not to buy this album.

The band is currently touring North America and you can follow their progress through their video diary (I know, it sounds gay, but its actually pretty entertaining). Also, unlike typical stuffy bands, you can listen to their full album (not just 10 second clips) on their website.

Some of you may remember that I was in a beer rut recently. I heard about this beer on a local radio station and was very intrigued–a wheat beer with hints of citrus/orange. I like me some wheat beer and after about a month I finally hunted this one down. Leinenkugel’s Sunset Wheat is a love it or leave it kind of beer. I personally could see myself dropping back quite a few of these regardless of the season (they market it as a summer beer). Granted, this beer isn’t for everyone. If you can’t drink a Magic Hat #9 or a Belgium beer with a damn lemon, steer clear of Sunset Wheat and stick to your Natty Ice.

Reviews around the Internets vary widely from Beer Advocate’s “best damn wheat ale I have ever had” to the Big Yellow Nasty’s “Sunset Wheat is like Fruity Pebbles in a bottle”. I can understand the references to Trix or Fruity Pebbles, but its because those cereals have a similar generic citrus flavor. The orange is a refreshing change from the typical lemon wheats. Overall I’d give the beer a 8.5 out of 10. The Internet average rating (see sites below) is a 6.2 out of 10.

Sites considered in Internet rating:

• Beer Advocate – 80 out of 100
• Rate Beer – 42 out of 100
• Epinions – 4 out of 5
• SumDog – 7.8 out of 10
• Boston Geek – 3 out of 10
• The Big Yellow Nasty – “Sunset Wheat is like Fruity Pebbles in a bottle”