Quiz: Is She Your Soulmate or Did She Just Listen to You Talk About Yourself for Two Hours

After all the years of bad first dates and bookended relationships, you finally found your twin flame. Who could have guessed your cosmic counterpart would be right under your nose at the 2-for-1 happy hour of your local watering hole? Not so fast. Silence the wedding bells ringing in your ears and take our five-question quiz to find out if she’s truly your soulmate or if she just listened to you talk about yourself uninterrupted for two hours.

1. What is her name?

a. She doesn’t have one
b. I’ll check the name on her debit card when she pays for our drinks at the end of the night
c. The same name as my mom’s but with a different spelling

2. Where does she live?

a. In the deepest recesses of my heart
b. Hopefully within walking distance because I really need somewhere to crash tonight and I’m fucking hammered
c. Around the corner from where I used to live, which reminds me of a really long story I need to tell her involving a bunch of people she’s never met

3. Do you feel comfortable opening up to her?

a. I have trauma dumped on her in a way that makes the Great Pacific Garbage Patch look like a community garden compost bin.
b. She knows things about me that would make my closest family members wonder if they ever really knew me at all.
c. She is one ‘mother’s maiden name’ piece of information away from being able to steal my entire identity

4. What is most attractive about her?

a. She said she would watch my cat next weekend while I’m in Rochester for a skate trip
b. She looks exactly like my ex-girlfriend who I keep working into the conversation
c. She’s age-appropriate but still young enough that I can manipulate her empathetic nature and soft malleable heart

5. What were some of your most fondest memories of the night

a. The enlightened look on her face when I explained the marbling process of wagyu beef
b. All the times she nodded in agreement while I explained I was both the brains and the brawn behind my recently formed band “Tyrannosaurus Hex”
c. How turned on she looked when I explained how riding a fixed-gear bike makes for a much more intentional experience
The boner I got when she told me she’d never been to Japan before and asked me for recommendations in Osaka

Poser Phish Fan Has Only Seen Them Live 72 Times This Year

MANCHESTER, N.H. ​​— Alleged Phish “mega fan” Walter Pratt admitted he has only seen the popular jam band perform live 72 times this year, sources high on nitrous oxide confirmed.

“Look, no one could accuse me of not loving Phish. I drop Phish references into every conversation I have. Ask anyone — no one can stand me,” said Pratt. “Anytime someone says the word ‘freezer,’ I immediately say ‘seize her with a tweezer.’ Normal people have no idea what the hell I’m talking about. But I had a busy year. I got a new job, moved across the country, and my wife gave birth to triplets. In normal years, I would have seen them easily 200 times by now. But I thought I was doing pretty well given the circumstances, even though I keep getting dirty looks and someone threw an entire bong at my head.”

Phish merch guy Greg Vaughn, however, believes Pratt’s reasons are a cop-out.

“The Phish community is generally pretty accepting and open-minded, but one thing we can’t tolerate is a poser in our midst,” said Vaughn while sorting a box of 300,000 Phish LPs. “Summer tour is more than half over, and Walter has experienced maybe 400 hours of jams, if we’ve estimating generously. If he wants to keep his cred, he has a couple of choices: he can go to every remaining tour date this year, or he can eat 20 pints of Phish’s Ben and Jerry’s flavor in one sitting. We need him to do one or the other to prove his commitment.”

Jam band sociologist Audra Kimmel confirmed that Pratt’s situation is both unusual and contentious in the Phish community.

“Research estimates that 90-95% of Phish fans have no lives, so these kinds of cases are highly unusual, and can cause rifts between fans,” said Kimmel. “Fans typically need to rack up a minimum of 600 hours of Phish shows in a given year to maintain credibility among their peers. How they accrue those hours is flexible —they can come from many different dates, or two or three particularly long shows. But if someone comes in under quota, they risk being called out on one of Phish’s 983 fan forums, and there’s no coming back from that.”

At press time, Pratt was frantically googling “microbus prices” in an effort to restore his image.

Husband Beginning to Suspect Wife Has Been Sleeping With The Dead Milkmen While He’s at Work

PHILADELPHIA — Jealous husband and punker Shaun Grables is starting to suspect that his wife is secretly having sex with The Dead Milkmen while he’s at work, said sources close to the situation.

“Hate me if you must but I grew up in a tiny town where everyone was good at finding out everyone’s business,” said an annoyed Grables. “Things have been a bit strained in our marriage lately. We aren’t communicating well, I’m stressed at work, and we haven’t had sex in months. I wouldn’t be surprised if my wife is smokin’ the banana peels of The Dead Milkmen if you know what I mean. I’ve heard they all got big lizards and they give girls the ‘bleach boy’ treatment when they’re done. It’s times like these that make me realize life is shit.”

Grables’ wife Clara Hagerman did not appreciate this constant stream of accusations coming from her husband.

“Shaun is suspicious because I’m a punk rock girl, but I’m not the punk rock girl from the song,” explained Hagerman. “I mean how could I be? My dad was never the Vice President, and that song was released in 1988, I was born in 1990. I know our marriage needs work, but I’m trying my best to make it work. He’s the one that went out and spent most of our savings on a Camaro. Still, Shaun keeps saying I’m a woman who’s also a mongoose because we are both sneaky. I tell him that I don’t have time to possibly be cheating because of my job which involves taking the differently abled to the zoo. But does he listen? No!”

Marriage counselor Heather Fields believes that this insecurity stems from Grables’ self-esteem issues.

“I mean let’s face it, who wouldn’t want to have sex with The Dead Milkmen? They are Philly punk royalty,” said Fields. “They throw awesome beach parties in Vietnam, they metaphorically set the people they love on fire, they own vacation property in Sri Lanka, and they gladly eat hippie pussy. But as awesome as they are that doesn’t mean Shaun can treat his wife this way. He’s walking the thinnest of lines and should appreciate who he has.”

At press time it was discovered that Grable and Haggerman were having affairs with different members of The Postal Service.

Almost Every “Seinfeld” Character Ranked By How Likely They Would Have Been Banned From CBGB

Established in 1973, CBGB was the legendary club that fostered the birth and growth of New York punk and hardcore. The “Country, Bluegrass, and Blues” bar never addressed the irony. Nevertheless, this club remained an essential fixture in NYC music of all genres until its closure in 2006. The most important aspect of this, of course, is that the NBC sitcom “Seinfeld” occurred in the same timeframe and location as CBGB.

At the Hard Times, we like to imagine a world where everything is punk rock. Punk rock news. Punk rock schools. Why not Punk Rock Seinfeld?!

We’re sure that at some point, the fictional characters from the Seinfeld universe stumbled into CBGB. We’re here to imagine how that experience may have gone and ranked these 50 Seinfeld characters by how likely they would have been to be banned from the historic venue.

50. Estelle Costanza

George’s mom strikes fear into all with her ear-piercing shriek. Even though she’d absolutely do something that would warrant a ban, she’s at the bottom of this list because no one would dare to confront her.

49. Larry

Larry owns Monk’s Cafe (formerly Tom’s). He typically pops up when the gang is getting unruly. He’s basically a diner bouncer. He clearly understands the dos and don’ts of how to act in an establishment and is therefore unlikely to catch a ban.

48. J. Peterman

This globetrotting manic-pixie-dream-yuppie would be so taken with the rustic surroundings and fiery passion of the legendary punk space, he’d be more likely to feature its aesthetic in a catalog than cause any problems. Besides, he’s the guy who brought the opium.

47. Poppie

Every character in “Seinfeld” has a fatal flaw. All Poppie did was not wash his hands after using the bathroom and he peed on his friend’s couch. If peeing on your buddy’s couch was enough to get you blacklisted, the punk scene would cease to exist. Besides, I don’t think the CBGB bathroom sinks have worked since the ’80s. Poppie gets a pass.

46. Cousin Jeffrey

While we never see Cousin Jeffrey, we sure hear about him. Jerry’s familial nemesis is a specter looming over Jerry’s fragile sense of self for the entire series. Not only would Cousin Jeffrey be welcome in the hallowed halls of CBGB, we bet he’d be managing the bar within weeks. Fucking Jeffrey.

45. Bob Sacamano

Another character we don’t ever see in person, Kramer’s deus ex machina “Bob Sacamano” has his hands in many pots. He was probably an angel investor in CBGB during the rocky ’90s. Sacamano is welcome anytime.

44. Kel Varnsen

Kel Varnsen, Jerry’s alter ego, is Jerry on his best behavior. Jerry basically needs to dissociate in order to act polite. Kel wouldn’t dare upset the social norms in an unfamiliar environment. However, there’s a small chance he’d catch a ban from associating with his friend Art Vandelay.

43. Tim Whatley

Jerry’s dentist and the second funniest joke writer in the Seinfeld universe (#1 being Kenny Bania, of course) is a pretty chill guy, but he does get way too into things. We could see him showing up in a pristine battle vest and a seven-colored tri-hawk. That poser would get tossed before he can say, “Good Riddance… is the real name of that Green Day song. See? I did my research!”

42. Mr. Lippman

A stuffed shirt like Elaine’s boss Mr. Lippman wouldn’t exactly fit in with punks. However, he’d get one whiff of what was happening in that venue and he’d leave before anything bad happened. What he’d get a “whiff” of, for the record, is crust punks.

41. Morty Seinfeld

Pending a misplaced wallet on the bar, Jerry’s dad is unlikely to get the hook from this historic venue. Morty is street-smart. Little known fact, Morty Seinfeld is responsible for the first battle vest after selling an undersized leather raincoat to Joey Ramone in 1974.

40. Dolores

Dolores has a temper, but only when righteously offended so it might depend on the politics of the band on stage. On the other hand, she had the maturity to leave Jerry after some of his trademark foolishness so she’d be just as likely to leave a heated situation than risk a ban.

39. The Maestro

On a typical night, Bob Cobb is a polite bar patron with pristine show etiquette. However, if his band is playing, then The Maestro comes out. He’ll demand everyone get the fuck up front and even jump in the crowd to pull people towards the stage. Depending on the vibe, this behavior may be encouraged. But on the wrong night, The Maestro could receive a perma-ban from these hallowed, stickered halls.

38. H.E. Pennypacker

Kramer’s snobby alter-ego would do his best to maintain class at all times, especially in such a brutish environment. However, he’s still Kramer so some combination of falling, flailing, or blurting something out may end in his removal from the club.

37. Marla Penny

This virgin is anything but timid when it comes to letting people know how she feels. Plus, she sure held her grudge against Jerry for the entire series. This is not a sign of someone who can let shit go. In the wrong circumstances, the virgin is getting two giant Xs on her hands and shown the door.

36. Babu Bhatt

Now this man has a temper but, once again, it’s primarily triggered by the fallout from interacting with the Seinfeld gang. Maybe there’s a pattern here. Either way, assuming Babu came to the club to see a band he liked, he’d be fine. But if he wound up there at the behest of Jerry in hopes of marketing his restaurant as “Authentic Punk-istani Cuisine,” he might see some “very bad men” around him and start crowdkilling.

35. Helen Seinfeld

This one’s simple. Is someone giving her perfect son a hard time? No? Then Mrs. S. is cool. If so? Then shit is going down.

34. Elaine Benes

Sure, when Elaine showed up to CBGB for a date with a band member, or the sound guy, or someone else with some clout in the room, she intended to have a romantic, thrilling New York night. But he’d eventually say something that offended her politics or triggered her general disgust of people, and then the whole room would hear about it. Whether or not she’s in the right will be overshadowed by her vigor and will likely end in a ban.

33. Keith Hernandez

At some point in the early 2000s, smoking was banned from bars in the city. Mr. Game 6’s chainsmoking habit would quickly wear out its welcome in Bloomberg’s New York City. Sorry, Keith. You’re out.

32. Ruthie Cohen

As the cashier at Monk’s diner, Ruthie has dealt with some shit. Mostly from George. She’d maintain her composure until a riff got too brutal and she let out all her repressed rage on some poor unsuspecting motherfuckers in the pit. This may lead to a ban, once again depending on which band happened to be playing at the moment.

31. Jackie Chiles

First off, Jackie would love this club. The whole place is an ambulance chaser’s dream. Hell, so are most punk bars. Jackie would get too excited and jump at the first opportunity to file a suit and he’d be shown the door for his troubles.

30. Ping

Ping would slip in the mosh pit and become the unwitting accomplice of Jackie Chiles’ attempted scam and receive a ban by association.

REPORT: Majority of Petey Sketches Where He Plays 5-6 Characters Not Filmed and Performed at Full Volume As He Walks Down Street 

LOS ANGELES — A rather hilarious Petey sketch where he plays at least a half dozen characters was reportedly not filmed and performed at full volume as Petey walked down the street, concerned friends and family confirmed.

“Before becoming big on TikTok Petey was days away from moving home where we could help him get better. Los Angeles hasn’t been good for him. I call him and sometimes I’m talking to him and sometimes I’m talking to ‘Puff Sullivan,’” one friend, who asked to remain anonymous when speaking about the struggles Petey is going through, said. “He can’t help himself. One of his neighbors actually uploaded some of his earlier videos because they thought it was funny. It’s not. We need Petey to come home.”

According to experts, Petey isn’t alone in his struggles.

“Over half the individuals on TikTok are clinically insane. They sit in their car, talking to nobody for hours on end instead of getting treatment,” Joyce Heidberg, head of psychology at UCLA, said. “The other half are just annoying. Those are the people that can fuck right off. I watch some of that slop and think ‘Who is this for? I’d rather be hit by a train than watch another second of this.’”

At press time, Los Angeles police officers detained Petey and noted in their report the sketch Petey was working on was quite funny.

Punk Who Misses “Old New York” 17 Years Old

PATERSON, N.J. — Local punk and high school junior Terry Probost, who often claims to miss the grimy, dangerous, pre-Guiliani New York City, is actually only 17 years old and has lived in New Jersey since he was in sixth grade.

“I’m telling you, New York just is a shell of its former self,” said Probost en route to his AP History from sixth-period biology. “Back then people like Dee Dee [Ramone] and Chris [Stein of Blondie] still hung around. I just really miss when things used to be authentic, instead of this fucking Mickey Mouse Disney Store that Times Square has been turned into. Tim Verlaine would have fucking wept if he could see CBGB now. I should know, I walked by the CBGB Lounge and Bar at Newark International Airport last year. Wish I could have gone in, but my parents don’t know I have a fake ID.”

Marie Probost, a certified public accountant, was unsure exactly where her son developed his obsession with a cartoonish vision of New York City that mostly existed in self-serving memoirs.

“We moved out of Staten Island when he was just a baby,” said Probost. “I don’t think he’s ever actually been to Manhattan, and he’s definitely never been to 53rd Street and 3rd. I don’t know why he keeps shouting that with his earbuds in. If I could change one thing, it would be not letting him check ‘​​Please Kill Me’ out of the library last year. Please, nobody tell him that ‘Sid and Nancy’ is streaming on Plex right now. I can’t deal with him finding out about London in the ‘70s.”

New York City historian Barry Di Martino is familiar with cases like Probost’s and the obsession with how disgusting the toilet at the Mudd Club was.

“Terry is searching for an identity,” said Di Martino. “At his age, it’s very normal to romanticize a place like New York City, which has always been disgusting and a shit place to live since it was founded by the Dutch in 1624. Right now, he’s experiencing something called ‘cultural FOMO,’ which is what we historians call pretentious little shits who think there’s something cool about having to worry about being stabbed any time you leave your 11th floor walk-up apartment. With any luck, he’ll grow out of it before he becomes a music critic.”

As of press time, Probost had discovered the movie “24 Hour Party People” and was talking about how the economically depressed Manchester of the early 1980s was the coolest.

Every The Blood Brothers Album Ranked Worst to Best

The Blood Brothers were a confounding band. Were they hardcore? Were they punk? Were they emo? Were they even music? We may never know the answers to those questions. What we do know is that they released five nearly perfect records before parting ways at their creative and commercial peak, capping a wild and baffling existence that spread widely across genres and their opinionated scenes. You may be wondering how one would even rank the albums of a band so hard to pin down stylistically. Before you attempt to do so and get so frustrated that you want to ‘set fire to your face on fire,’ take a seat and let the professionals have it. Here is the definitive and totally correct ranking of The Blood Brothers’ studio output.

5. March On Electric Children (2002)

Remember how hard it was when you were transitioning from your awkward teens to your even more awkward adult years? You threw everything at the wall hoping something would stick to hopefully form a cohesive identity that was new and unique. It didn’t quite work, but at least you got to try on a few literal and metaphorical hats along the way. That is ‘March On Electric Children!’ in a nutshell. Its ideas are bold, but half-formed. Exciting, but poorly executed. Fun, but deeply disturbing. Much of the experimentation featured on this outing would only prove to be refined on future releases, making ‘March On’ feel like a rough draft at best.

Play It Again: “Siamese Gun”
Skip It: “American Vultures”

4. This Adultery Is Ripe (2000)

As a debut album, ‘This Adultery Is Ripe’ certainly stands as one of the boldest of its era. Melding all of the fringe elements of its adjacent genres, this record managed to introduce a highly influential and unique-to-a-fault sound to unsuspecting listeners across multiple scenes. Punk, emo, hardcore, and screamo fans all had something worthwhile to find on this one. And let’s not forget they had two vocalists, which left a lot of people wondering if that was even legal. If this were the band’s only effort, it would stand exceptionally well amongst even the most legendary of contemporaries. Fortunately for us, the band only continued to ramp up their output with very few exceptions from that point on.

Play It Again: “The Face In The Embryo”
Skip It: “Doctor! Doctor!”

3. Burn, Piano Island, Burn (2003)

A majority of Blood Brothers fans will tell you that ‘Burn, Piano Island, Burn’ is not only their best album, but possibly the greatest album of all time. We won’t sit here and call them idiots, but we absolutely do not agree with the sentiment. This is not to say ‘Piano Island’ is a bad album. In fact, as the band’s major label debut, the astounding and chaotic fervor it caused upon its release is likely responsible for its overblown reputation within the band’s discography. Where most groups in their situation start to dull down their sound to garner more mainstream popularity, The Blood Brothers dug their heels even deeper into their disorienting avant-garde stylings. Still, there are clear growing pains within the songwriting and production that make this one feel a little flat when observed within the context of their full discography.

Play It Again: “Cecilia and the Silhouette Saloon”
Skip It: “The Salesman, Denver Max”

2. Young Machetes (2006)

‘Young Machetes’ is hands down The Blood Brothers’ most dazzling album in terms of production thanks to the esteemed and guiding hand of Guy Picciotto. Every member is in top form as if completely aware it would be the band’s last effort. Unfortunately, this knowledge of the death knell is apparent throughout the record, as evidence of the band’s splintering tastes occasionally hinders the album’s progress. This is most jarring in the faster tracks that appear to play out just a few BPMs slower than they should have (Huge Gold AK47), and most gloriously effective when the band leans into their more groove-based tendencies (Spit Shine Your Black Clouds). Considering the break-neck speed at which the band operated during their ten-year existence, it’s completely forgivable for them to have been totally exhausted by this point in their existence. Their final album, though not without flaws, is a fitting goodbye and a perfect reminder that youth is fleeting and no one stays in their twenties forever.

Play It Again: “We Ride Skeletal Lightning”
Skip It: “1,2,3,4 Guitars”

1. Crimes (2004)

If we were ranking The Blood Brothers’ discography by album cover alone, this one would come in dead last. Behind the atrocious early aughts emo artwork lies the band’s true opus, however. This is the record where The Blood Brothers stood on the precipice of critical adoration and near-mainstream success and spit it venomously in the faces of all who dared to press play. Johnny Whitney and Jordan Billie’s contrasting vocal styles lock in for the most consistently satisfying interplay they ever committed to tape. A great reminder to listeners that two lead vocalists are completely warranted for an act such as theirs. Cody Votolato’s layered guitar work provides a cacophony that is as lush as it is volatile, while bassist Morgan Henderson and drummer Mark Gajadhar’s backbeats are so complexly dialed in that the former was eventually tagged in for Fleet Foxes’ lineup. This is without mentioning Johnny Whitney’s highly underrated Rhodes and synth playing that colors the entire record. If you find yourself scoffing at this entirely correct placing in the rank, we suggest you shut the fuck up and make your own genre-defying record and get out of our comments section.

Play It Again: You’re gonna need something to listen to as you compulsively bleach your hair again
Skip It: Absolutely not.

Metal-Themed Spelling Bee Ends in First Round When Nobody Comes Close to Getting Sanguisugabogg Correct

LAS CRUCES, N.M. — Organizers of a spelling bee primarily focused on metal band names were disappointed to see every participant eliminated in the first round after failing to spell Sanguisugabogg correctly, confirmed multiple long-haired sources.

“This was obviously a big mistake on our part. But even if we saved Sanguisugabogg for the final round it wouldn’t have made a difference. People get halfway into spelling the name and just get lost,” said event organizer Terry Leonard. “The craziest part is we had the drummer of Sanguisugabogg in the competition and he couldn’t even get it right. We want to apologize to all the diehard fans who flew in from all over the world to see the brightest minds in metal spell band names for their chance to win a 30-rack of Old Milwaukee and a custom knife from Old Forge Metalworks.”

Last year’s champion Omar Gibson admitted he was frustrated by the results of the competition.

“I spent all year practicing only to have some goofy band from Ohio ruin my chances of going back to back. I was locked in, Cryptopsy, Hypocrisy, Pestilence, it’s all child’s play to me,” said Gibson. “I even practiced spelling Sanguisugabogg at home, but when I was under the bright lights I choked. I took my time, asked them to use Sanguisugabogg in a sentence, asked the origin of the band name, and even asked them to play a selection of their music, but it didn’t matter. All I can do is hope the band breaks up before next year’s competition so the organizers are forced to remove their name from the options.”

Historians who have followed the competition since its inception in the early ‘70s say it’s had an outsized influence on the genre most wouldn’t expect.

“When metal music was first rising to prominence you had so many fans and so many bands and so many people that wanted to compete to spell those bands names,” said Dr. Robert Lancolm of Oxford University. “The competitors started forming their own bands and using fonts that were harder and harder to read. So basically the unintelligible ‘death metal font’ we see in metal band logos is a direct result of someone trying to obscure the spelling of their band’s name to achieve an advantage in competition. And now it’s just become part of the genre as a whole.”

At press time, all the competitors in the spelling bee were shuttled across town to participate in an air guitar contest.

Opinion: Who Is That Vibrator Setting For?

Every woman knows there’s nothing better than coming home after a long day of work, changing into lingerie, lighting a Yankee candle, and going to town on your clit like you’re sanding a piece of sawn lumber. Sadly, many of us looking for a quick respite from the daily grind have our plans foiled when accidentally queuing up one of 16 different orgasm-destroying vibration patterns, leaving us naked from the waist down and asking, “Why? ”

The word “Why” has hurt more people than any other in the English language. It’s the gateway word to learning information you wish you hadn’t. From “Why did you cheat on me?” to “Why is my period late?” to “Why is my vibrator pulsing to the rhythm of the Pink Panther theme song?” “Why” highlights some of life’s most unanswerable questions.

With just one maladjustment to your vibrator’s control panel, you’ve crossed over from the pleasure zone into Morse code territory. Congratulations, your Sisyphean nightmare has just begun. You’ll be clicking through an assortment of senseless vibrations for what seems like days trying to get back the momentum you worked so hard to build watching that retina-burning amateur pornography, but it will be too late.

Sex toy engineers say the different settings are there to customize the experience for the consumer, but if you’ve ever met an engineer, I don’t need to tell you they’re not having sex. Relying on engineers to make sex toys is like asking a vegan chef to write a cookbook on hotdogs. It’ll be creative, but ultimately disappointing and kind of gross.

What might appear as kink-shaming is merely tempo-shaming. Market research yielded no demand for a vibrator that mimics a strobe light, yet here we are. Apologies to the three women worldwide who can only come while using the vibrator setting that syncs up perfectly with Lipps Inc.’s 1980 hit song, “Funkytown,” but the rest of us are trying to get off on something less reminiscent of the tap code used by Vietnam POWs.

50 Famous Singers Ranked by How Well They Can Whip This Ragtag High School Show Choir into Shape

Singers are a unique breed. The stakes are often higher because they have no instrument to hide behind. But with high risk comes high reward, and it’s no wonder those who open their mouths to play the vocal odds are all a little crazy in their own special ways. But just because a singer’s talent has earned them widespread public success, doesn’t mean they can whip a struggling high school show choir into shape in time for the state championships at the end of the semester.

We’ve got an imaginary group of misfits, nerds, and ne’er-do-wells on our hands, and they’ve all somehow found themselves in this hypothetical fourth-period show choir. They have just ten weeks to get it together for the fictional competition that could make them the first show choir in school history to win the fake state title.

Which famous singer is best suited to take on the challenge?

50. James Hetfield

This show choir wouldn’t even make it two weeks into the semester. Mr. Hetfield would only show up for half the rehearsals, and when he would, he’d be inexcusably late. The kids would start skipping fourth period to go smoke pot under the bleachers and steal things out of open lockers. The school principal would pull the class and James would no longer be allowed within 500 yards of the campus.

49. David Lee Roth

To upper middle-aged men with a collection of short-sleeved button-down shirts and bad knees, David Lee Roth is a legendary rock vocalist and a powerful performer. To a public school district’s hiring committee, he is a liability. There would be no choir, nor show.

48. Drake

You’d think Drake would have taken a choir class during his time at Degrassi High, but no, he’d just be mumbling shit to the kids like, “I thought you were in high school, but you’re just schooling high,” before getting fired for treating them to a pizza and bottle service party.

47. Ozzy Osbourne

The school district upholds a zero-tolerance policy for any teacher telling students to “calm fucking down, shut the fuck up—oh fuck off!!” no matter how much they deserve it, so unfortunately Mr. Ozzy would be terminated on his first day.

46. Miley Cyrus

“I think she used to be the JV volleyball coach.” “I heard she bartends in Southside on the weekends.” “Do you think she vapes?” are just some examples of what the students would be saying about their new teacher. Classes would mostly be sing-alongs to whatever classic rock songs came up on satellite radio, and the kids would readily take advantage of the fact that Miss Cyrus never takes attendance.

45. John Mayer

Mr. Mayer would resent this job from the start. He’d decide after the first class to nix the whole show choir idea and turn fourth period into a group guitar lesson instead. There’d be two interested kids who’d make some progress on the instrument while the rest would spend the whole class swiping through Bumble on their phones, and Mr. Mayer wouldn’t care less.

44. Billie Joe Armstrong

Mr. Armstrong’s show choir rehearsals would be structureless, chaotic, and unproductive. Not to mention he would keep pushing his new rock opera idea on everyone, but at least the teacher’s lounge would be fully stocked with compostable-packaged coffee beans.

43. Cardi B

Okurrr, this clearly wouldn’t go very well. Miss Cardi would probably be better at teaching English or politics classes than show choir, as not a lot of actual singing would happen. But if nothing else, her “try me or get popped” approach to classroom management would be effective.

42. Kevin Parker

Frankly, Mr. Parker is too chill and barefoot to effectively teach high schoolers. He’d be all vibes, no lesson plans, and the kids would quickly take him for a pushover, eventually just coming and going from rehearsal as they pleased.

41. Ed Sheeran

If only Mr. Sheeran had any classroom management skills, this show choir might stand a chance, but he doesn’t. No matter how many times he’d tell the kids he’s their actual teacher and not a substitute from the teacher staffing agency, they wouldn’t listen. Halfway through the semester he’d give in and let them watch movies for the remaining weeks of class.

40. Alex Turner

Mr. Turner would appear to not give a fuck about the show choir, and that’d be because he wouldn’t! Rehearsals would be inefficient sessions of him crooning some songs for the students to learn by ear. Eventually most of them would be singing fairly well, but choreography wouldn’t even be a consideration. At least half the kids would lose interest weeks in and pick up smoking cigarettes instead.

39. Dr. Teeth

Let’s get one thing straight: Dr. Teeth understands show choir. He is no stranger to the mechanics of flamboyant, choreographed musical numbers, but like many musicians who are masters of their craft, he wouldn’t be a very good teacher. He’d assume the kids could learn all the songs through call and response, and they’d end up driving to the competition in a 1970s VW van just to shout-sing in a half-octave range.

38. Stevie Nicks

The kids wouldn’t believe the lady who wrote that song from the cranberry juice trend is teaching their class. They’d be so surprised by all her cool stories and would spend pretty much every class distracting her into telling them a new one, so no real rehearsing would ever happen. They probably wouldn’t make it to the state championships by the end of the semester, but they’d all know how to play the tambourine and cast basic spells.

37. Florence Welch

Florence, who would insist the kids call her by her first name, would somehow be simultaneously neurotic about preparing for the big competition and totally carefree about the student’s daily progress. Their routine would be mostly improvised, and that just doesn’t cut it in the world of show choir! She’d also be regularly mistaken for the school’s visual art teacher and drive the principal insane with her habit of letting the kids out of class early.

36. Taylor Swift

The kids would lose their shit as soon as they learned Miss Swift would be their teacher for the semester. Parents of students from other school districts would be bribing the principal with thousands of dollars to let their kids transfer and be in her class. It would be such an ongoing frenzy that Miss Swift wouldn’t even be able to teach, which is a shame since no one has ever written more relatable songs for people in high school and/or living with a high schooler’s mentality than she has.

35. Fergie

While Mrs. Ferguson’s expertise lies in dynamic musical ensembles, her choreography would be too challenging for the students. You’d think with all the texting kids do they’d have strong and nimble wrists, but even with ten weeks to practice, not one would manage to pull off a one-handed cartwheel.

34. Goyte

The students would never quite be able to figure out Mr. G’s deal, making them hesitant to fully trust his leadership—and you can’t build a championship-winning show choir on a foundation that lacks trust. Their performance would be weird and too artsy-fartsy for the judges’ preferences, but man would those kids be able to belt.

33. Greg Graffin

How could you expect Dr. Graffin to focus on show choir when the AP Biology teacher just left on maternity leave? Sure, he’d do it and the students would love him and give him a nickname like “The G-Man” or something, but he’d rush out of rehearsals as soon as the bell rang to go teach the seniors in the science lab about cellular energetics.

32. Jason Mraz

Jason Mraz would obviously run the tightest Orff-Schulwerk based elementary music program at a peanut-free charter school that doesn’t believe in report cards or math and calls the first-grade “Team Starfish,” but his show choir would lack the pizazz necessary to take home a state title.

31. Dave Grohl

Mr. Grohl would be in disbelief that he, just a regular ol’ kid from Virginia, had been given the opportunity to work with these incredible high schoolers at this legendary high school. They’d work tirelessly throughout the semester on a face-melting routine for their headlining slot at the state championships that’s gonna burn the auditorium down and… what? They only get seven minutes to perform? Well, Dave would push forward with a three-and-a-half-hour choir set anyway, because that’s rock n’ fucking roll!!!

30. Björk

Ms. B’s class would not be the easy A so many kids were expecting it to be. What they thought was going to be a breezy semester-long sing-along with a mild-mannered teacher would turn out to be a crash course in ethnomusicology, trip-hop, and electrical engineering, with spontaneous field trips to go yell outside school board meetings.