For whatever reason, not every musician is a Nice Guy. It's the musician's prerogative to be an asshole – I mean, look, they took the time to learn how to play the guitar or sort of sing or whatever, and that's something only about 82% of us have ever done. So it's really their right to be a dick. The only problem, however, is that when a musician is a jerk, they're probably going to get called out on it and face a backlash from fans. Only a handful of performers have transcended the line where being an asshole comes back around and gets cool again, and these are the folks who've managed to lift sneering, snide rock-and-roll above schtick, pretense, and most of all, reproach. Here is a quick rundown of some of the Masters of Making You Feel Good About Feeling Bad About Yourself:

5) The Psychedelic Furs

Before eliminating half of their members and hopping into bed with the bubblegum end of the new wave movement (see: Pretty In Pink), The Psychedelic Furs were about as snide a group as you could find. Backed by a black-clad, sunglassed band, frontman Richard Butler would eschew things like “charisma” in favor of things like “cigarettes” on stage. He referred to at least two or three things as “stupid” in any given song, and experts estimate that he gave approximately zero fucks throughout his career.

4) Alan Vega

Alan Vega wanted so badly to be hated. I'm sure the only person in the world he envies is Michael Richards. By adding mumbling, über-lazy vocals to rockabilly/boogie in an era when mumbling, über-lazy vocals and rockabilly/boogie were specifically not appreciated, he made some of the least likeable music possible, and then delighted in getting booed off stages around the world.

3) Shilpa Ray

Whether performing alone, or with her bands the Happy Hookers and Beat The Devil, vocalist/harmoniumist (?) Shilpa Ray is an irrefutably powerful and disarming stage presence, as well as songwriter. She's pretty attractive, too, but in a “I'm gonna bite your head off after we mate” kinda way. And with a much-touted endorsement from the ever-snide Nick Cave a couple years back, she's set to go down as one of the most lauded tongue-in-cheek musicians of her superfluously tongue-in-cheek generation.

2) The Birthday Party

And speaking of Nick Cave: while the gentleman may have gone the way of Leonard Cohen and Lou Reed, pumping out respectably mediocre borderline-lounge records in the past few years, he was once a sneering force to be reckoned with. Check out “A Dead Song,” a bad band's bad song about being a bad song from a bad band.

1) Mas Y Mas

If you want to hear a record that's so snide it'll slap your mom, bang your sister, and then drink your beer without even finding any humor in it, look for Proud Sponsors of Pepsi. Lyric example: “I heard you were doing missionary work in Boston, fucking practicing liking floppy, making your fucking dumpster look like motherfucking Castle Grayskull, hunting tigers or some other bullshit, I didn't get through your entire letter, but I wanted to tell you I've got a more positive outlook now after reviewing how gay you look on paper.” I bet you could be these kids' best friend, and they'd still loathe you and disparage you with a bevy of latently homophobic slurs. But the record is good, what can you do?