Henry Kissinger Dies of Broken Heart Thanks to Temporary Ceasefire in Gaza

KENT, Conn. — Former diplomat, and noted war criminal, Henry Kissinger died at his home yesterday reportedly of a broken heart brought on by the temporary ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, grieving family members confirmed.

“There is nothing Henry loved more than turning on the TV and seeing innocent children covered in blood as their homes were bombed by bloodthirsty government officials. He’s been so full of life these past few weeks it was like he was 85 again,” said Kissinger’s widow Nancy Maginnes. “He started taking a turn for the worse as soon as he heard about the ceasefire, and when Palestinians were being released from Israeli prisons he became physically ill. It was tough to see him like that. I tried to make him feel better by reading off the names of Cambodians who died because of him, and I’m afraid it wasn’t enough.”

Former president, and also a noted war criminal, George W. Bush remembered Kissinger fondly.

“Man, Henry was was a real cut up I’ll tell you what. Me and Dick (Cheney) would be talking about these new missiles were unleashing on Iraq and I kid you not Henry, who was in his 80s at the time, got the biggest darn erection I’d ever seen,” said Bush. “Then he grabbed some classified documents with photos of dead Iraqi civilians and ran to the Lincoln Bedroom for 25 minutes. He came back smoking a cigarette and we knew what he was doing in there. Henry was a real hound dog when it came to seeing photos of exploded people.”

David Sullivan, a funeral director in Kissinger’s hometown, says Kissinger had already made final arrangements for services after his death.

“Mr. Kissinger was very specific with his wishes. Although I’m surprised he died so soon, any time we talked he always talked about this ‘deal he made’ that would allow him to outlive all his enemies foreign and domestic,” said Sullivan. “I’ve already begun preparations for the service which will feature collages from the various conflicts he was responsible for. Mr. Kissinger also asked to be buried with a photo of the child covered in napalm running down the road, he said it was his fondest memory of the ’70s.”

In lieu of flowers, Kissinger’s family is asking people to overthrow democratically elected officials and replace them with puppet dictators.

Awkward Travis Barker Doesn’t Know What to Do with His Drumsticks During Conversation

LOS ANGELES — An anxious Travis Barker reportedly did not quite know what to do or where to put his drumsticks while trying to maintain eye contact during conversation, sources confirmed.

“He almost took one of my fucking eyes out,” said Dan Wetherman while attempting to avoid staring directly at the sticks. “He was twirling those things in his fingers during our entire conversation about my demo I was trying to hand him. I asked him if he wanted to check it out right now. He softly said something unintelligible, and then he just kind of started bashing the nearest surface with his sticks. I asked him to stop using them because they were distracting, but he pretended not to hear me, I think.”

Barker reportedly didn’t even realize the severity of the issue.

“I don’t even register that I’m doing it, and I’m not really sure what to do. I feel so naked when I’m not playing percussion,” said Barker while counting his tattoos to make sure they were all still there. “You know how some people bite their nails? Well, I gotta go rat-a-tat-tat with my drumsticks or I don’t feel like myself. It’s sort of like my version of a stress ball, except it seems to stress out everyone around me. I’m working on getting better though and I’m down 100 bpms from last week, so that’s a start.

Many closest to Barker admitted to knowing about his “anxiety drumming” for many years.

“That man hasn’t had a normal conversation in about 20 years. I think he even sleeps with those drumsticks,” said longtime friend and bandmate Mark Hoppus. “I’ve known Trav for years and I don’t know if will ever stop. Even the band couldn’t get him to quit playing drum fills during band meetings. And dude, we tried everything; hiding his drumsticks, putting mittens on his hands during important band conversations, and even covering his drumsticks in hot sauce, but he would always just suck it off and keep drumming. That’s why he’s a legend, I guess.”

At press time, Barker was seen carrying around an entire snare drum to avoid playing with his sticks during conversation.

5 Nostalgic Albums That Will Make You Say, “I Shouldn’t Be Flipping through This CD Case During Rush Hour”

An automobile isn’t fit for the road unless it has a CD player or Discman with a cassette tape adapter–which is definitely the main reason I drive a ‘99 Pontiac Sunfire with moderate damage to the passenger side door. Who wants a car with Bluetooth and Sirius XM when you could endanger the lives of everyone around you by flipping through your extra-large CD case looking for a scratched-up disc that won’t play right, anyway? It feels just like high school without all the youthful optimism!

But be sure to buckle up because we’re looking back on five nostalgic albums that will make you say, “Maybe I shouldn’t be flipping through this CD case during rush hour!”

The Postal Service “Give Up” 

Somehow, the sexually charged vocals of the human embodiment of a beige swatch from Lowe’s still make you think about your college girlfriend. Maybe Janelle will take you back if you call and apologize for throwing up at her sister’s wedding. She’s been married to your cousin for fourteen years, but it’s worth a shot! If you daydream about the life you would’ve built with Janelle and her family in upper Maine for too long, you’ll probably clip several people using Bird scooters in the bike lane. Thankfully, you’ll be so emotionally available, you’ll cry with them!

 

Job for a Cowboy “Doom” 

If the intro track to this EP doesn’t make everyone think you have a dude trapped in your trunk, every second of “Entombment of a Machine” will. Whatever you do, don’t ask why you placed this album on the same page as The Roots’ “Things Fall Apart” and Savage Garden’s 1997 self-titled album until you’ve safely rear-ended the Honda Civic in front of you.

 

 

 

 

Deftones “Around the Fur”

Everybody loves “White Pony,” but what about the album you lost your makeout virginity to? This was the album that made you a love-drunk sicko that abandoned skateboarding and childhood friends for any girl in the mall food court that looked at you right. So, jam “Be Quiet and Drive (Far Away)” and have an extra-sweaty dry-humping session with the cop that will inevitably pull you over for being too horny.

 

 

 

Minus the Bear “Highly Refined Pirates” 

The lyrics to this album will let everyone in the Target parking lot know your BAC is above .08. So don’t break it out until you’ve finished the open container in your front seat. Also, hang onto that hitchhiker for a while because you need an alibi more than you need a drinking buddy.

 

 

 

 

 

Limp Bizkit “Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water” 

This album is as terrible as it is fun which makes it the perfect CD to listen to while pulling into your old elementary school. No teacher thought you were old enough to listen to Limp Bizkit in ‘01, so it’s time to prove what a big, strong man you became by blaring “Rollin’” while picking up your girlfriend’s son thirty minutes before dismissal. Jaydain Murphy doesn’t need social-emotional learning any more than you need to turn down the Limp B-I-Z-K-I-T.

 

 

In the event you get into an automotive accident trying to corral these elusive discs, the Hard Times would like to remind you that you only need a license to drive if you get pulled over.

“Give Me a Second Chance!” Cries ReWritable CD-ROM Used Once for Papa Roach Album

MINNEAPOLIS — A local man’s CD-RW containing Papa Roach’s album “Infest” pleaded for its dear life for him to give it a second chance, sources who forgot it even existed confirmed.

“Just because I was downloaded from LimeWire and the songs are all out of order doesn’t make me any less useful than if you bought the real thing for $9.99 in the bargain bin at Tower Records,” said the storage medium. “If I have to be associated with this album, someone should have to suffer along with me. And hey, I’m just as good as I was 20 years ago. First though, I need some help extricating myself from between these smudged-up copies of Drowning Pool’s second and third albums. It’s a rough life I lead.”

Jake Swenson, the disc’s owner, was not empathetic of the compact disc.

“That beat-up Memorex in my truck’s CD visor?” Swenson said. “Sorry bro, my burner broke back in 2002 when I tried ripping some sketchy Hoobastank MP3s. It’s the only reason I stopped using it. Also, because these things are obsolete and I haven’t thought about Papa Roach since the Bush administration. Man, if I was that CD I’d get with the program and offload myself to Goodwill or something, let it be someone else’s problem.”

Experts say it’s common for CD-RWs to never get any sort of redemption.

“It’s too risky to reuse a rewritable compact disc because in a sense the CD-RW could ‘die bleeding’ if a buffer underrun were to occur,” said Arthur Dillon, who once ran Netscape site “Burn and Learn” as a resource for those struggling to rip CDs from iTunes. “Subsequent re-writes are usually rife with mistakes by the creator, including using awful-quality 64kps MP3s or accidentally ejecting the disc at 99% done. Best case scenario at this point is the disc falling out of the CD visor, laying in the sun for an extended period, and degrading the recording so severely as to render it, for all intents and purposes, blank. At this point, that thing needs to be put out of its misery.”

At press time, a good Samaritan with a semi-working Windows 98 machine at home was seen breathing on the disc and rubbing it with their shirt in hopes of reviving the copy for one last go-around.

The Cramps’ Top 50 Songs Ranked by How Easily You Could Pass Them off as Christmas Music

Christmas is right around the corner, a season of giving, connecting with loved ones, and the most god-awful ear-worm music you’ve ever heard in your life. You can’t get away from it, be it at work or at home, someone in your life is trying to push this crap on you earlier and earlier every year. But what if Christmas music didn’t suck, because it wasn’t Christmas music, and was The Cramps instead?

We’ve put together the top 50 songs by The Cramps and ranked them by how easily you can argue their way onto someone’s Christmas playlist. (Listen along while you read)

50. I Wanna Get In Your Pants

Yeah, this one would be a tough sell. Maybe you could try saying that it’s Santa’s pants, Lux is singing about? Like he wants to dress up as Santa? Honestly, if you can get your family to buy that you can get them to buy anything.

49. All Women Are Bad

Yeah, this one is just not gonna work. You could maybe make the case that this song is trying to put the Christ back in Christmas by reminding people of man’s origin in the garden, but you really don’t want to go down that road.

48. Drug Train

What is Santa’s sleigh if not a train, delivering the, uh, drug, of… dopamine? To Children? Okay, fine change it.

47. Sheena’s in a Goth Gang

It’s about that TikTok trend of adults dressing goth and taking photos with mall Santas. You know what? I just made myself not want to listen to it.

46. God Damn Rock ‘n’ Roll

Tough one. Just say it’s the one about the Grandma who got run over by a reindeer and hope for the best. Nobody actually likes that other song anyway.

45. Aloha From Hell

You could maybe try to tell people it’s a Hawaiian rockabilly Christmas song called “Aloha Noelle” but your odds are slim. You know what, don’t steal our idea of “Aloha Noelle” we are going to learn how to play surf rock guitar and write that one ourselves.

44. Caveman

“What, you never saw “The Caveman Who Saved Christmas?” Oh man, it’s a classic. It’s about this Caveman, living back in Caveman days you know, and get this, the Caveman? He saves Christmas. We used to watch it every year at my house I’m surprised you’ve never heard of it.”

43. Don’t Eat Stuff Off The Sidewalk

“Oh yeah, Santa hates it when kids eat stuff off the sidewalk. If you eat stuff off the sidewalk that’s a one-way ticket to the naughty list. So anyway, Aunt Cathy, you had a cist removed, what was that like?”

42. Faster Pussycat

It’s about how fast and cool Santa’s sleigh is, and yeah, Lux takes a lot of sexually charged poetic license, but have you seen how that sleigh can move? You would get aroused.

41. Uranium Rock

One night Lux Interior was visited by the ghost of Poison Ivy even though she was still alive. She introduced him to the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future, who showed him that he would dig up valuable uranium, but that his miserlyness toward his riches would lead to a life of loneliness. Lux vowed then and there that when he got his foldin’ money from the uranium he would find, he would throw it away. Sound contrived? Well, yeah, it’s pretty low on the list.

40. The Green Door

This was a cover of a popular song from the ’50s written about speakeasies, which themselves are a metaphor for Christmas. We all have a “green door” we want to walk through, be it to a physical place of ill repute or an act we consider taboo, like punching your landlord in the face. The temptation can be strong, but we must resist if we wish to stay off Santa’s naughty list.

39. Thee Most Exalted Potentate of Love

Yeah, I’m not afraid to say it, I think that giving someone a Christmas gift is the most exalted potentate of love! Save that “Happy Holidays” crap for the woke mob!

38. Shortnin’ Bread

Oh, so this season we can listen to a song about a guy who won’t let a woman leave his house, but listening to a song about shortbread cookies, a staple of Christmas time, is crazy? Well, I think that’s pretty crazy! No, by all means, change it to “Baby it’s Cold Outside” you monster!

37. Beautiful Gardens

If you’re a real Christmas head you’ll know this song plays in “Rudolph The Red-nosed Reindeer” when Yukon Cornelius forages the wrong mushroom and goes temporarily insane.

36. What’s Behind The Mask

“What’s Behind The Mask” is a brooding, contemplative Christmas song. It serves as a reminder that old Saint Nick sees not just this facade we wear, this idea of ourselves that we present to the world, but the corners and dark recesses of the inner mind as well. Sure, on the surface, we’re all good boys and girls, but on the inside, do we measure up? Do we really want to know? These are the questions the holiday season is all about.

35. Bikini Girls With Machine Guns

These were characters in “The Nutcracker,” The holiday ballet classic.

34. Tear It Up

Clearly this is a song about putting up Christmas decorations. You know like, tear it up, with festive lights! It would legit make a great song for a Christmas decorating montage. You can see it, right?

33. Save It

You know like, save up your money, so you can buy everyone Christmas gifts!

32. Sunglasses After Dark

Well, we all know Santa doesn’t come until all the boys and girls are asleep, but kids can’t sleep on Christmas Eve because they’re too excited, so this song recommends you wear sunglasses to bed so old Saint Nick can’t tell that you’re wide awake! It’s as clear as day.

31. You Got Good Taste

This one goes out to all the good little boys and girls who happen to be boujee. You’re 9 years old and you want a Gucci bag for Christmas? Santa respects the shit outta that hustle, on god, frfr.

30. Strychnine

“Well, there are different versions of the character we call Santa Claus all over the world. In the Baltic Principalities, he is known as Strychnine Klaus. He delivers tiny citrus fruit trees to all of the good boys and girls and leaves a dead mouse on your pillow if you are a wicked child. You should really know more about other cultures.”

Woman Excited to Show Therapist Bo Burnham’s “Inside” Not On Spotify Wrapped This Year

CHICAGO — Local woman Jenna Morris was thrilled to discover that her Spotify Wrapped did not contain any traces of Bo Burnham’s “Inside” this year and immediately wanted to share the information with her therapist, sources confirmed.

“I’m so relieved,” Jenna said. “It’s been a really tough few years, and my therapist is going to flip her lid when I show her that ‘Inside’ didn’t even crack my Spotify Top 5! Bo Burnham has been my top artist and top-played songs for three years running, and it hasn’t even been close. But it seems like all the long hours I’ve spent talking through my last breakup, childhood trauma, the agony of capitalism, the state of American politics, and the inevitable end of our planet due to climate change really did the trick!”

However, after a brief review of Morris’ Spotify Wrapped, her therapist still had some concerns.

“It’s great that she’s moved on from listening to Burnham sing ‘That Funny Feeling’ 9 times in a row while she’s trying to go to sleep, but seeing ‘Summertime Sadness’ as her top song really isn’t inspiring confidence,” mused Jenna’s therapist, Dr. Beverley Kind. “Her top 5 artists are Lana Del Ray, boygenius, Joy Division, Bright Eyes, and The National. It’s nice to see some change, but I think we still have a lot of work to do. I’m canceling the rest of my sessions this afternoon just to focus on Jenna.”

A representative from Spotify noted that starting this year, users listening to over 100 hours of Joy Division, Radiohead, or any band featuring Phoebe Bridgers will receive a discount code for 10% off BetterHelp at the end of their Spotify Wrapped.

“It’s really important to us to keep our users healthy, happy, and listening to hours and hours of their favorite music,” the rep stated. “That’s why we’ve started this partnership with BetterHelp — to identify Spotify listeners who think they’re absolutely fine but are actually in the midst of a never-ending existential crisis. We’re excited to connect them with therapists who can help them transition to something a little more upbeat, positive, and inspiring. Also, any user who skips over the discount code in their app will receive an additional push notification, text, email, and we will call their parents.”

At press time, Morris was seen listening to The Smiths while staring wistfully out the window.

Frank Ocean Makes Rare Public Appearance in Fan’s Burnt Toast

OAK PARK, Ill. – Local woman Evie Meyers received a welcome surprise this morning when an image of acclaimed artist Frank Ocean made an appearance in her burnt toast, confirmed sources planning a pilgrimage to the apartment.

“So I’m making breakfast, thinking about Frank Ocean, and how he hasn’t released a song in three years or an album in seven years. And out pops my toast,” said Meyers with tears in her eyes. “There he was right there. Frank Ocean. In my toast. I nearly dropped to my knees. I knew I had to post this to Instagram ASAP, and lo and behold, I had racked up 72,000 likes in a matter of hours. This is the biggest public appearance Frank has made in eons, not counting Coachella last year, which fans have all agreed to erase from our collective memory.”

Some of Ocean’s more superstitious fans experienced a nearly religious moment seeing the toast.

“When he released his last single, 1321 days ago, there was a southward wind. Back in 2016, when Blonde dropped, the wind was out of the East. And today it’s out of the Southeast. So I think that means there’s an album soon” said superfan Alex Santanos, “Now with this appearance, I think it’s all but confirmed. The toast is a sign from above. I never used to be a man of faith, but God, it feels good to have something to believe in,”

Music journalist Hugh Shimako shared his thoughts on Ocean’s general public image.

“You know, Frank loves to keep a shroud of mystery around him. I just think this is his way of sending a message, maybe a new album, maybe a new Homer line” said Shimako. “He’s an enigmatic guy and we’ll be fans of whatever he makes, even if that is literally everything but music. I’m wearing some of his jewelry right now. Last year, rumors swirled that Frank would be directing a movie for arthouse studio, A24. Before that, Frank tacked on yet another non-musical project when he opened a nightclub in New York City. I guess now Homer is releasing a new line of cock rings. Except these ones come with rubies and more sizes available. Looks like pre-orders drop at midnight.”

At press time, Ocean’s new Homer line had sold out, and sources revealed he is both writing a play and in training to receive his pilot’s license.

Opinion: These New Fans Keeping the Thing I Love Financially Viable Are Just the Fucking Worst

You know what really pisses me off? These Johnny-Come-Latelys who show up in this fandom that me and my friends slaved over cultivating for the last 30 years and just spend their money keeping this thing that my friends and I love afloat and financially viable, but then disrespect us by not immediately agreeing with all our correct opinions!

Not only do they have the unmitigated GALL to show up late to this party, just because they were only born recently, they act like they get to have a say in the direction it goes creatively just because they’ve actually spent money on it instead of lording their length of time being a fan of it over people on Discord, Reddit, and whatever other forums me and my friends frequent to brag about how long we’ve been real fans!

And don’t even get me STARTED on these fucking assholes who want to actually analyze it for deeper meanings beyond what is flatly stated in the material, like shut up and sit back and FUCKING COMPLAIN about how awesome it used to be! WE were posting on BBS boards in the NINETIES about how much more we knew about meaningless minutiae that wasn’t the result of actual creativity, but necessities of budget and other constraints when it was created! Stop engaging with it on a deeper level of underlying themes and cultural contexts, just memorize sterile facts and shove your own beliefs onto them!

Look, it’s really simple: when this product that me and my friends have attached our egos to went dormant for all those years, we kept talking about how it should come back, how nothing compared to it, and how awesome it was, and just because it was brought back because a whole new generation started spending actual money on it to show studios, creatives, and investors there was real demand and not just casual, masturbatory nostalgia, that doesn’t suddenly GRANT them a spot at the table.

At the end of the day: we’ve been watching this thing longer than you, and that makes us better. I don’t make the rules, I just slavishly obey them when it benefits me and my insular group…anyway, I’ll take a Baconator, a large Frosty and…I guess some fries?

Every Waterparks Album Ranked Worst To Best

Waterparks, Marc Summers’ favorite band not including Alanis, seemingly came out of nowhere in 2016 with their debut full-length album “Double Dare,” and infiltrated the pop-punk, pop-rock, Warped Tour, and Manic Panic with their quirky yet melodic blend of Rolling Rock. Power trios rule, so let’s give praise to vocalist/guitarist Awsten Knight, lead guitarist Geoff Wigington, and drummer Otto Wood; zero accolades are in order for the band’s non-existent bassist. The band also has the impressive but not really, stat of having five albums on four different labels: Equal Vision Records, Hopeless Records, 300 Entertainment, and Fueled by Ramen LLC.

5. Entertainment (2018)

The term “sophomore slump” exists because of “Entertainment,” and nothing else. While this LP is quite good in its own right, in comparison to the other four in the band’s catalog, it has the least amount of replay value, unintentionally making its title the lowest form of such for Waterparks. The band toned down its energy overall from “Double Dare” for this one and sadly the ten tracks suffer as a result. If the album was a 4-6 song EP, it would’ve been insane in a good way, but sadly, since about ⅓ of the songs are ok, this one has to come in last. This is Waterpark’s last EVR release and if you want some tea, Google the drama between Waterparks and the label.

Play it again: “TANTRUM”
Skip it: About ⅓ of it

4. Greatest Hits (2021)

While “Numb” is a top ten Waterparks single, the sixteen other songs on Waterparks’ fourth LP, the meh titled “Greatest Hits” just aren’t up to snuff when compared to the rest of the three-piece’s catalog, and would have truly benefited from almost ⅓ being removed here like what they should’ve done on “Entertainment” and utilized as B-sides, or, gasp, never. We’re not kidding, and we know that you creeps that stan all things Knight are crying over it all at a hot ice bath in a secret location. Still, it is quite admirable that 300 Entertainment released six, YES SIX, singles for “Greatest Hits,” which, and we know that we’ve said the word “⅓” a lot here already, is literally almost ⅓ of the full record. In closing, we want Geoff’s jacket and some Fruit Roll-ups.

Play it again: “Numb”
Skip it: Just under ⅓ of it

3. Intellectual Property (2023)

Fun fact: Waterpark’s fifth and newest LP as of now, “Intellectual Property,” clocks in at exactly thirty-one minutes, and only two of its songs, the last tracks “Closer” and “A Night Out on Earth” are longer than two-minutes-and-fifty-two seconds, showing that the band is more about protein than fat, and that water is neither. We’re sure that it felt like the band snuck out of heaven whilst remaining heavenly when they inked a deal with Fueled by Ramen LLC, current home to Twenty-One Pilots, The Front Bottoms, A Day to Remember, and Celine Dion, and said happiness showcases in the sad songs here, that are still recorded in a way that feels bright and fun. The band also expressed their gratitude towards expletives with the opening track “St*rfucker” and song #9, “Fuck About It” (featuring Blackbear and no *). Basically, they are the three best friends that anyone could have!

Play it again: “REAL SUPER DARK”
Skip it: “RITUAL”

2. Double Dare (2016)

After two DIY self-released EPs, “Airplane Conversations” and “Black Light,” because Waterparks are crust punk AF, and one for Equal Vision Records called “Cluster,” as they are emo-adjacent as heck, Waterpark’s entered the scene with their debut studio album “Double Dare.” This album sets the ADD genre tone that is consistent throughout each Waterparks’ LPs, and we implore you to stay awake for all forty-four minutes and nineteen seconds of this poppy and rockin’ gem of an LP. Within a year of this album’s release, the band were bona fide legit true headliners, and we blame/love Hawaii, America as a whole, Plum Island, and Princess Peach for such; they’ll always be around.

Play it again: “Gloom Boys”
Skip it: “I’ll Always Be Around”

1. Fandom (2019)

If you wished that Waterparks listened to more of your phone conversations, Daft Punk, Fall Out Boy, and “Orange Is the New Black” episodes in aural form, “Fandom” is for you. Like “Intellectual Property,” Waterparks showed that they had no patience for the extraneous, and the longest song here, “[Reboot],” is a whopping three minutes and twenty-two seconds. It would be a crime if you listened to this record without bobbing your head even though proud public words about Waterparks typically makes one easy to hate. In closing, there are SO many other acts out there that deserve your scorn more than this power trio.

Play it again: “Watch What Happens Next”
Skip it: “Never Bloom Again”

Punk John Cage “4’33”” Cover Only 13 Seconds Long

ST. LOUIS — A punk tribute to experimental composer John Cage ended with a triumphant thirteen-second cover of his most well-known (and controversial) work “4’33””, an avant-garde piece in which no notes are played.

“‘Cage: Against The Machine’ was a night to explore the work of one of the most punk-rock composers of all time,” says singer Aaron Berk, who arranged and performed the marathon five-minute set. “I was just really inspired by the original work, and thought: what if I did this with a band, but like, way faster? You know, the usual hardcore strategy. It was a huge success, the audience literally didn’t know what hit them. We probably could have played it five or six times in a row without anyone complaining. The crowd was that good.”

Bartender Margaret Engler says the crowd at the tribute concert was overwhelmingly polite but “strange as hell.”

“At first they were just watching the show, but once the beer started flowing a lot of these guys were busting out dice and ‘I Ching’ charts, talking about randomizing my tips and measuring ice cubes,” said Engler on her smoke break. “I even had a guy ask to transpose my telephone number into a scale he could play on his theremin. But I think he just wanted my number. I gotta say, I give these weirdos points for creativity, even though I’m pretty sure the band just stood there for ten seconds and called it a day. ”

A spokesperson for the John Cage Trust, a non-profit whose mission is to “gather, preserve and disseminate” the late artist’s work, applauded the musicians involved in bringing his most potent work back to contemporary audiences.

“We’re enormously impressed with how quickly the event came together, and how the funds raised will go to important archival projects here at the Trust,” said Linda Richert. “The intersection of punk rock and silence is rad as hell, and to our knowledge no one has performed ‘4’ 33’’’ with such unique flair. We’d love to see some other genre-specific takes on the piece, such as a sludge metal rendition that lasts several hours.”

As of press time, Berk was considering renting studio time to record the track as a single.

Stay Updated on The Latest Punk News

Get the latest punk news delivered straight to your inbox

We'll store and process this information to provide you our products and services. You may opt out of this at any time.