'Oh, That's Not Obvious Enough, Rob. How About The Beatles?'

Growing up the world was always trying to tell me how perfect, how revolutionary, how god-like the band was. I couldn't escape the hype, as surely as I couldn't escape their forever-playing pop songs. Yeah, yeah, I thought. I know the Beatles.

Maybe that's why it's taken a good twenty-six years to listen to the band on my own terms.

Last night I was feeling giddy and hopeful after that oh-so-close KU victory over Davidson and decided to play some Revolver. Afterwards, I was still feeling giddy and a little ironic, so I put on Olivia Tremor Control's Dusk at Cubist Castle. My brother sat contemplating for a few solid moments and then said, "Is this still the Beatles?" This was a trick, of course. I wanted to see how effortlessly the two blended together. To see influence and homage at their most striking, side by side.

A few hours later, readying for bed, I saw Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr on Larry King Live. Putting aside all that recent Heather Mills nonsense (as McCartney defiantly did), this was the first interview I've seen where I was able to look past all of that extra "stuff" -- John Lennon's legend, the universally despised Yoko Ono, the washed-up Wings -- and focus on the music.

So, fine, world, get off my back. The Beatles. I get it now.