NEW YORK — Former bully-turned-bouncer Terry Gallagher found himself fighting the urge to administer atomic wedgies to everyone at a recent They Might be Giants performance, meek and pimply sources confirmed.
“I’ve got a ton of regret about the way I acted growing up. So I try to make up for it by doing things like spotting dweebs struggling on the squat rack, refraining from using a gay slur when I see a dork eating seitan, and saying ‘thank you.’ But this recent gig really pushed the limits of my reformed bullydom,” said Gallagher. “Based on the number of glasses and ill-fitting t-shirts, you would have thought this was a near-sighted convention. Then the band comes on stage with a freakin’ accordion and starts singing about birdhouses and Istanbul and shit. I have no idea how I managed to restrain myself as long as I did before breaking down.”
They Might Be Giants fan and show attendee Wanda Cooke was one of the first to notice Gallagher’s odd behavior.
“Usually when I’m at a show, the bouncer remains stoic and keeps an eye on the crowd. But this one guy spent the whole time pacing back and forth and pounding his fist into his palm. At one point we made eye contact and he whispered something about meeting me ‘at the baseball field after study hall,’” said Cooke. “Initially I thought it was part of the show, but then later I saw him mechanically administering swirlies to weirdly complacent fans in a bathroom stall, one right after the other. The show attendees just stood there and took it like a fight or flight thing.”
Psychologist Dr. Yunus Coffey spoke about working with adolescent bullies like Gallagher.
“It can be difficult for now-adult bullies to acclimate themselves to life ‘on the outside.’ Once, they were top of the food chain in the cold and uncaring public school system, and now they find themselves serving meals, driving, or even protecting their smarter and more successful classmates,” said Coffey. “This is why I help bullies integrate into adult society. And if that doesn’t work, I encourage them to become police officers, where they can continue their wanton abuse and violence without any retribution whatsoever.”
At press time, Gallagher declared himself an honorary nerd after finding himself inexplicably tapping his toes to the song “Don’t Let’s Start.”
Kids these days, what’s up with them? Seriously, we have no idea what the hell is going on with Gen Alpha and they are terrifying, mostly because they speak in internet shorthand and we haven’t brushed up on our acronyms in a decade. In order to bridge the generation gap, we sought out the cool kids table at our old high school to find out what makes them tick.
Unfortunately, since the moment we sat down they’ve savagely criticized nearly every aspect of our existence.
At first it was unclear to us why there was so much animosity. It’s not like Millennials ruined the economy! Perhaps the proliferation of Harry Potter and Axe body spray is what’s led them to question our judgment.
Our attempt to talk to them in a way they’d understand didn’t help. Apparently no matter how you think the word “skibidi” is used, you will be wrong 100% of the time. Either we don’t know what it actually means or these kids are just fucking with us.
When it wasn’t our taste in clothing that was in their crosshairs, it was our TikTok for you page. How they got their hands on our phone is beyond me. It must’ve been when we dropped our guard after one of them chided the infinity tattoo on our wrist.
After an entire lunch period of being roasted, it was clear any attempt to know them as human beings was not going to happen. So eventually we threw a Hail Mary and the offered right of passage golden ticket: that fact we could buy them alcohol. The look they gave us, as if they’d just been offered ketamine! Apparently it’s flavored vapes or nothing for them, but that ship may have already sailed because there’s a 99% chance they’re going to doxx and cancel us.
What makes these kids popular anyway? Most of their music and fashion trends are just late 90’s retreads and they want to act like adults without any of the maturity and have cult-like loyalties to brands! But goddam do we want to be them. Imagine not having to develop a personality because your parents can buy you the best stuff while knowing absolutely nothing about how the world worked before 2010.
We’re probably no closer to understanding these kids than we are the secrets of the universe, but the infinite cosmos didn’t read us for filth because we still use the smiley emjoi. Fucking brutal.
PORTLAND, Ore. — Owner of local shop Tunehoundz Records Steven Southwell recently decided to use old Record Store Day vinyl releases to replace the dilapidated shingles on his store’s roof, audiophile sources report.
“I honestly thought I’d never get rid of those lousy Record Store Day releases that were somehow growing mold in the backroom,” Southwell explained. “This was probably the most efficient way to get rid of those Gin Blossoms picture discs and limited edition Mötley Crüe ‘Red, White and Crue’ records. Not to mention I saved a ton of money on actual shingles. Actually, I broke even on those. Turns out, finding a contractor who will work exclusively with limited edition records is pricey. Anyway, I look forward to constructing a much-needed load-bearing beam after next year’s Record Store Day.”
Long-time customer Angela Gonzalez loves the idea of a vinyl-based roof.
“I think it’s brilliant,” Gonzalez said. “Whenever I see those piles upon piles of unsold releases, I just sort of wonder if they could be used in a more pragmatic manner. Sure, that roof is going to need to be replaced after exactly three storms, but it might be worth it until then. But I get it. It’s like, someone thought it was a good idea to release a special edition Morrissey interview picture disc? Come on! That’s like seeing that sad dog at the kennel no one wants to adopt. Either way, someone is finally putting Record Store Day releases to good use.”
Its widely known unwanted Record Store Day products have had a number of practical uses since their inception.
“With how many releases that come out on that day, there are bound to be some stinkers,” said Curtis Getts, a local avid record collector. “Shop owners generally have invested a decent amount of money, so naturally they want to get use out of them. So aside from basic home and building repairs, they can also be good for broth bases for certain soups, stews and sauces. You’ll never have a hungry record store staff so long as Record Store Day is still a thing!”
At press time, Tunehoundz Records constructed its second store location entirely out of unsold Record Store Day cassette tape releases.
When driving across America, you begin to notice how many big-box brands there are scattered across this nation. But what’s under-discussed are how fuckable their sweet, sumptuous logos are. Sure, this line of thinking may have gotten you fired from multiple design firms. Sure, you may inadvertently see all logos as inviting call to temptation. But your long drives and lonely freeway hauls have been going much faster since you’ve begun ranking these logos by how bad you want to be inside them, or have them inside you. This is your life’s work, your magnum opus. Perhaps attach this list to your resume for job applications, or let the below companies know your thoughts directly!
21. Target
Sure, ideal as a primordial symbol of a welcoming backdoor, but beware the red coloring. See: inflammation. This is a call to get yourself tested. There is discounted fun beyond the giant cement spheres outside, but at what cost? Ask friends before getting near this infected opening, the bullseye of irresponsible good times.
20. Best Buy
The giant yellow tag here has a smaller opening at an odd end, but you can make it work. In fact, most people use the phrase “a smaller opening at an odd end” to describe your genitals, so all-in-all this consummation is a win. You appreciate the tilted angle, helpful for the natural curve and rhythmic maneuvering needed for insertion. No “Geek Squad” here! Just a proud American fucking the Best Buy logo.
19. REI (Recreational Equipment, Inc.)
Rugged and choppy, sex with this logo is more granola. There is a real danger of harming yourself on the many jagged points and slants. Roughing it works for some, but this is too much. Like sex outdoors, the idea of this is more appealing than the execution. Maybe you can do something funky with that tree, though.
18. Sam’s Club
America’s richest family has developed a logo that is incredibly easy to enter. A gaping wide, loose hunk of a vulvic or “rear end” entrance. Dive your entire body into this one, find the pleasure center of Sam’s Club. The blue in the logo is like the blue of the ocean, like diving into a majestic vagina of consumer discounts.
17. Dick’s Sporting Goods
This entry in some ways writes itself. You can sit on one of the tall letters, or hope to get teabagged by the flying 3-D logo. If anything, the logo is too assuming, “in your face.” You like seduction to be coy, prolonged, not just balls flying all over willy-nilly. Plus, the all-capital font in white? Someone needs to work on their subtlety, and that someone might be Dick.
16. Whole Foods Market
Plenty opportunities for sex here, with the modest fig leaf on top courting a playful touch. A generous offering of openings, lots of “O” action grouped together, inviting your warm body implanted into those lovely grouped orifices. Sex with the Whole Foods logo, like shopping at Whole Foods itself, is expensive. Be prepared for self-important fine dining of a dubious “organic” nature, plus lots of conversation in bed about sustainability.
15. Kmart
The confident “K.” Yeah, you wanna fuck that “K.” It’s the last letter of “fuck.” It’s the lustful plosive kick at the end of that perfect word. A punchy end. Almost an orgasm itself. Fill your world with pleasure to the very brim, with Kmart. There’s not a lot you can do the big red “K,” but you can get up in between those angles for a long, loving night.
14. BJ’s Wholesale Club
Once again, the name is doing a lot of the work here. Somewhat spiky check mark, not the best for insertion. This is an “all foreplay” logo. Try to achieve double penetration with the uppercase “B.” Sidenote: is there a sexier letter than an uppercase “B?” You’ve been banned from multiple Bed, Bath and Beyond locations for this very reason, left off this list since their logo is simply too irresistible (also, bankruptcy).
13. Home Depot
Askance angles are recommended for approaching this logo in an amorous, lusty fashion. Perhaps stretch first, get yourself limbered up. Discretion is advised given the already loud, high visibility of their hot orange. Think about the endless nights with those curved crevices, the reliability of that box stencil font. Nustle in the burly square that is the Home Depot logo. (If you want to bang this logo you can get close by wearing a Hard Times shirt.)
12. Lowe’s
Much like the Sybian sex machine you purchased to spice up your life, riding this logo in reverse cowgirl is ideal. This is a logo that will make you breakfast in the morning. Look at those tight corners and that morning-wood chub bump on top. Lowe’s, simply irresistible. You spend dark lonely nights thinking of this, your favorite Home Improvement Warehouse.
11. Walgreens
What’s inside that cup? You know what’s inside that cup. Let the curly ribboned font slip around your body like an eel. Let the logo’s labia fly. You’re at Walgreens. Romance runs wild. The cursive implies an old-fashioned lovemaking, perhaps furtive and frank, but considerate and tender. Fuck the Walgreens logo how your grandparents would’ve fucked the Walgreens logo: with appreciation, a dollop of patriotism and a helping of humility.
10. Staples
You live for that curve on the “L.” You think about it night and day. Look at it, just waiting for you to do something up on it. Have a wild night downtown with the Staples logo, question your life choices, get absolutely railed, find paperclips in your canals. At least you know you’re fucking a business professional with office supply hookups.
9. T.J. Maxx
Are those magic nipples or lost anal beads floating beside the “T?” Either way, the double “X” in the spelling tells you everything you need to know. What a dirty little troublemaker this logo is. This logo will ride you hard and punish you until you scream. You will be fondled and whipped by the multiple legs of the “M.” That is the TJ Maxx way. Maybe do some yoga after.
8. CVS Pharmacy
That little red heart is absolutely double-cheeked up. Or just let the entire logo enter you, penetrate you, deeply. Feel that pressure. If you have any pain, ask the logo itself for advice, famous for its pharmacy section. This CVS logo is 24/7, babe – down for anywhere, down for anytime.
7. Sephora
A subtle, feminine, yonic opening. Some say it’s an eyelash or smoke billow, perhaps a whisper or just an “S” but all you see is the divine vagina, from whence we all came. A subtle calling, a slip of an opening. Approach the Sephora logo with tenderness, using all parts of the body for stimulation before embedding yourself. Making love to this logo is like riding on a yacht through the south of France: elegant and over too soon.
6. Bass Pro Shops
Wow, what does that fish mouth do? Look at that gaping maw. Inviting you, beckoning you, daring you. Anyone wearing this hat secretly wants you to engage in “Shape of Water”-adjacent activity. That fish is flying at you, coming for you, ready to chomp, suck, nibble on and glug your body until you burst with pleasure. Definitely have this very conversation next time you see a MAGA-type or Gen Z kid wearing this logo.
5. Costco Wholesale
Ride those blue stripes all night long. Like the prices never changing, fucking this logo will be a reliable hookup. Frottage would be an option here, rubbing along the long blue rectangles. Like a visit to Costco itself, the sex will be expansive; you’ll end up trying spanakopita and cranberry juice samples while watching the Olympics in 4K.
4. Macy’s
Once again, another little red star butthole. Right there, next to the word “Macy’s” itself. Sure you can slide around all those smooth serif-free fonts, but if you really wanna make this logo scream, you gotta stick your thumb in there. Better do it soon, though, these Macy’s locations are disappearing faster than endangered rhinos.
3. Ross Dress for Less
Possibly the horniest logo of the bunch. The discreet “logo next door” that secretly is a freak. Look at that unconnected “o” – it can literally change shape and size to fit you. Take the leg off that R, buy it a secret apartment for kinky leather games. Ross won’t judge. Ross will allow you to explore every dimension of your sensuality. The very encouragement in the words “dress” and “less” is all you need to know here.
2. Ikea
A big, huggable ball, long enough to lay upon like a chaise-lounge, but round enough to slide around on. Sex here is an easy step-by-step process, much like actual Ikea instructions. Perhaps use the little metal tool that comes with the furniture, for kinky multipurpose exploration. Stay open-minded to new exotic Swedish positions. Like wandering an Ikea itself, you can get lost while fucking this logo, your animal body simply feeling the joy of uninhibited, highly-efficient tantric sex.
1. Walmart
The asshole of capitalism. The anus of America. The perfectly puckered yellowbelly bottom of consumer bliss. The ideal taut sphincter of every blue-vested greeter. Beauty, perfect, stunning design. With just a few strokes of the pen, the backside is implied and this booty-hole holds dominance across America. Have fun for hours with this magical entry point. Sure, all of the “Mom and Pop” stores on Main Street are closed thanks to Walmart, plus downtowns are trainwrecks thanks to discounted centralization. But everything is going to be just fine, as long as you can explore this great nation and fantasize about Walmart’s wide yawning yellow rectum.
LOS ANGELES — Local police officer Mark Woodside warmed up for a long day of work beating college kids peacefully protesting genocide by knocking around his teenage children who were trying to avoid him, sources confirmed.
“I checked my watch and it was 6:03 a.m. and my kids weren’t up yet. So I marched right up to their room and initiated communication. They immediately resisted my demands to ‘wake up’ so that’s when I was forced to start throwing punches to the back and sternum of each individual child,” said Officer Woodside. “Some of my colleagues think we need to separate our work life and our home life, but I’ve found that some of my most effective training happens with my own family. If I can ignore the cries of ‘please stop’ and ‘I think he might be dead’ from people I’m meant to love, then I can surely ignore those cries from complete strangers. Especially when I have my riot gear on.”
Woodside’s 17-year-old daughter says she’s been an unwilling participant in her father’s “training exercises” for over a decade.
“He always takes seminars in hand-to-hand combat that are paid for by the precinct and he immediately comes home and ‘practices’ it on me and my brother. He’s broken my collarbone and given me multiple black eyes. I ran out of excuses for my appearance years ago, now I just tell people I’m in an underground fight club,” said the teen girl. “My mom has threatened to leave, but anytime she brings it up he usually grabs one of his guns. As bad as it is for me, I worry for the protesters. My father is out for blood, and I know all his friends think the same way.”
Pro-Israel counterprotesters have been very welcoming to the increased police presence on college campuses.
“The cops just let us do our thing for at least an hour. We will typically show up to an encampment with a few batons and bats and try to single out a few of the smaller college kids and just beat the tar out of them. The police just turn their back and talk about how ‘they are on a break’ while we take care of business,” said Zionist Luke Holcomb. “A lot of off-duty officers will join us as well. They just love hurting people. And since I started hanging out with them so much I was able to get three parking tickets dismissed.”
At press time, Officer Woodside was being praised by his commanding officer for bravely approaching three college students huddled in a tent and knocking them unconscious.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Local weirdo Arnold Hauser posted on the popular community app, Nextdoor, that everyone in his neighborhood is safe around him because he is the second coming of Christ, conflicted neighbors report.
“Those in my presence need not fear. For I am Christ himself resurrected and made of pure love as well as crushing vengeance,” said Hauser while cleaning a stockpile of guns. “Crime has ridden this neighborhood for decades, but that ended the moment I started squatting in apartment B9. Archangels followed me here, slaying the demons that lurk around our block. And God alerts me of the physical passersby that are dancing with the devil, so that I may alert them of their damnation and coming demise. Oh, God is my goldfish.”
Hauser’s neighbors acknowledged his objectively unconventional methods have actually made the neighborhood feel more at ease.
“I’m not a fan of the fact that he said my penis is leading me to hell, but my car hasn’t been broken into since he came around. So that’s cool,” said neighbor Josh McKinnon. “He stands on an apple box all day and night shouting at everyone that walks by that his goldfish helps him decapitate evil, and spirits are in an eternal battle over the destination of their soul, which is weird. But if it keeps the porch pirates away, I’ll take it.”
Experts believe this approach to petty crime control is completely unethical, but they struggle to argue with the numbers.
“Sure, letting him continue to preach in the middle of the street about God speaking through his goldfish may temporarily decrease the neighborhood’s level of non-violent crime, but come on, not cool, guy” argued psychologist Suzy Putz. “Having a God Complex, like Hauser clearly has, is isolating and dangerous, to himself and others, yes. But he’s getting great results. Police records show that petty crime within a two-mile radius fell by 95% ever since he started screaming at all hours of the night.”
At press time, Hauser was whisked away by a team of large male nurses back to the mental health ward.
Samantha and I got married at my father-in-law’s country club. Not our scene, but our friends and families had a great time. Until suddenly, someone (with their own mic?!) piped up from the back of the room, which I figured was a prank from my groomsmen. But no, it was Bill Murray, Peter Venkman himself, in a bucket hat and a vest full of fishing lures, singing “Brandy (You’re A Fine Girl)!” It was just like all the stories I’ve read on theCHIVE, it was completely bizarre, yet incredibly charming!
After the song, he delivered a moving speech about how we should travel the world together and handed us two tickets to opening day at Wrigley Field and an Uzi gifted to him by Hunter S. Thompson. The tickets were an amazing surprise, but a submachine gun was baffling. I don’t know how we would even get it home, and I don’t think they’re legal in our state.
He hopped onstage to play tambourine, which after a few songs was visibly wearing on the band, and we were all ready to eat. Then he went behind the bar and served drinks, but no matter the order, just gave everyone tequila. It was hilarious but getting a little out of hand!
With literally anyone else it would be obnoxious, but this was great! We all just went on as planned, with Bill Murray as bartender. We had gotten a story to tell for the rest of our lives, but it was supposed to be our day, can you get back to stealing random people’s fries?
We had our first dance, until Bill Murray asked to cut in. Samantha is a fantastic sport, but she was more familiar with his Wes Anderson era, so it was less of a thrill for her. I could tell the whole experience was starting to get old for her.
When he loaded the Uzi and started making demands, it seemed like a joke or a movie reference I didn’t get. But it got serious when he fired a shot in the air and said, “No calling the police. I see one cop, I kill three of you. I see two cops, six people die!”
He threw my dad a garbage bag and had everyone throw in their phones and wallets. He allowed the caterers and photographer to leave with a list of demands: a starring role in “A Confederacy Of Dunces” with Alfonso Cuaron as director, a standing 9:45 am tee-time at Augusta National for him and his brothers, and the skull of Del Close. Then he started busing tables.
We were scared and confused, he was threatening our lives, even if it was in a goofy way. Someone must have called the cops because the building was surrounded. He didn’t make good on his earlier threats, but when the negotiator started trying to communicate via bullhorn, Murray was nowhere to be found. We weren’t sure if this was some sort of trap, but it was silent, he was gone.
Ten minutes later, he appeared outside, wearing dish-washing gloves and drying a plate. We couldn’t hear what was being said, but all the cops seemed like they were yukking it up with him, before he recited a solemn poem. After a round of selfies, he got into a patrol car and did doughnuts on the course while firing off a shotgun.
We figured we were out of harm’s way, but too worked up to go back to celebrating, so we called it a night, only to find out he took everything from our gift table and left us with a signed DVD of “Operation Dumbo Drop.”
We learned later that after charming the cops, he came back, this time with the GZA to help the band load out.
GREENE, N.Y. — Amateur conservative pundit Gordon Brock found himself in a predicament when none of his friends or family would let him borrow their pickup truck to aid in his move to a new “bachelor pad” and record a TikTok voicing his criticism of government policies and advocacy for personal freedoms.
“It would be embarrassing for me to scream about woke culture from the inside of my Ford Focus. No one will take me seriously in such a wimpy car. I have dozens of followers looking to hear my take about the crisis at our border, January 6th, and the Trump trial,” Brock explained while trying to move a mattress by himself when no one showed up to help him. “I’d rent a U-Haul but the cabin in those trucks are not conducive to the acoustics I need to tell the truth about Hunter Biden’s laptop.”
Family and acquaintances, however, are weary of loaning Brock their vehicle for any reason.
“Last time I let him use my truck he bent the tailgate trying to move his gun safe and then he spilled C4 energy drink all over the seat when he was gesticulating wildly about DEI policies,” local truck owner Shane Barker said while refusing to answer Brock’s calls. “And somehow a ‘Blue Lives Matter” bumper sticker was randomly placed on my car when he dropped it off, five hours late. It’s not my fault that [Brock’s] credit is so bad no one will sell him a truck.”
Dr. Annette Douglas, Professor of New Media with a focus in Automotive Journalism at Northwestern University, explained that this is an ever-growing issue in conservative media circles.
“The cost of pickup trucks has skyrocketed in the past few years and these so-called reporters are struggling to keep up. For them, the truck is a symbol of their right-wing expertise so they can’t be seen in anything older than a 2016 or, god forbid, a Toyota,” Douglas explained. “Not to mention most of these men are going through a divorce or have been kicked out of their parent’s house because they are 31 and unemployed. So they are constantly needing these trucks to move to basement apartments or grandparents’ attics.”
As of press time, Brock was found to be in a crisis of conscience when a coworker offered to let him use their All-Electric Rivian pickup.
You might not know this, but before they were part of Wings and the Plastic Ono Band, Paul McCartney and John Lennon had a group called—
OK, you know what? We can’t even bring ourselves to do this cute little “Let’s pretend the Beatles are an obscure band!” thing we had planned. They’re inarguably the most influential and successful band in rock history. Not just in terms of music, though definitely that, but also in terms of fashion, language, cultural allusion, and the very notion of popular music as art. They have 13 studio albums, and we have ranked them in such a way that you will surely take no issue with.
13. Yellow Submarine (1969)
This album exists solely because of contractual obligations and it shows. It is very bad. Its one slightly redeeming song, “All You Need is Love” was irrevocably ruined by its use in the third-tackiest plotline in the 2003 rom-com “Love, Actually.”
Play It Again: Nothing, this album sucks Skip it: All of it, this album sucks
12. Please Please Me (1963)
Now that “Yellow Submarine” is out of the way, we can focus on Beatles albums that matter, and we are already at the point where almost any ranking order would be fine, we guess, but also, we’re pretty sure no one’s picking this for #1. Their debut album has some classic singles like “Love Me Do” and the title track, both of which, despite being on an album that we’re ranking in the double-digits, easily outclassed quite a bit of other pop music being made in 1963. This thing kicks off with “I Saw Her Standing There,” which, despite the slightly creepy announcement that Paul is lusting after a 17-year-old, is a rock standard for very good reason.
Play It Again: Everything mentioned above, plus “Twist and Shout”; it’s a cover, sure, as are several other songs on this record, but you know it will make you think about Ferris Bueller and smile. Skip It: “There’s a Place”
11. Magical Mystery Tour (1967)
On the one hand, it’s like they said “What if we took the psychedelic thing we did with “Sgt. Pepper” and just went completely off the deep end with it?” The cover art is so absurd and campy that it’s a little hard to believe it’s associated with the most important rock band ever. On the other hand, this album has “Penny Lane” and “Strawberry Fields Forever,” which are so beautiful and pure and good that, excuse us, we just have something in our eye…
Play It Again: Those two songs that definitely did not make us weep. Skip It: “I am the Walrus.” This song is good for exactly one thing, and that’s Steve Buscemi’s over-enunciation of its title in “The Big Lebowski.”
10. With the Beatles (1963)
Don’t ask why this one is officially considered part of the band’s discography and “Meet the Beatles” isn’t. It’s a whole big thing about what was released in the UK versus the US and it’s not that interesting. The important part is that it’s another mix of originals and covers, but it’s a little better than “Please Please Me,” and the cover art is beyond iconic.
Play It Again: “Don’t Bother Me.” George Harrison was criminally overshadowed by Lennon and McCartney’s egos, but when he wrote a song, he wrote a good one. In fact, his solo track “My Sweet Lord” from 1971 is better than all of Lennon and McCartney’s post-Beatles output combined. Skip It: “You Really Got a Hold on Me.” Sorry, but four guys from Liverpool had no business covering Smokey Robinson.
9. Beatles for Sale (1964)
This is where the band gets a little moody and mean-spirited. Usually, “Rubber Soul” and “Revolver” are (rightly) cited as the big turning points in their sound, but they are already moving toward making rock and roll into something artistic and important with this record. Still…a lot of covers.
Play It Again: “Baby’s in Black” and “Eight Days a Week” Skip It: “Rock and Roll Music.” Four guys from Liverpool also had no business covering Chuck Berry.
8. Let it Be (1970)
Some iconic stuff on the band’s swan song album, but the production is a mess and the title track is almost as saccharine and annoying as Lennon’s “Imagine.” Almost. Hiring Phil Spector to do his wall of sound thing, as great as it was for the Ronettes, was not one of the Beatles’ best choices. Even Paul, who painstakingly de-Spectorized it in a 2003 remix/remaster, could admit as much.
Play It Again: “Dig a Pony” Skip It: “Get Back.” We’re sorry. It’s just not that great.
7. A Hard Day’s Night (1964)
The band’s third album (sort of; again with the UK vs. US release thing) is their first to contain all original material, and it is very good. That iconic opening chord on the title track is like an announcement to the world that something important is about to happen, and hot damn do they deliver. George Harrison’s 12-string lead guitar work was like a first draft of the uneasy truce between folk and rock that Dylan cemented at Newport the following year.
Play It Again: “I Should Have Known Better” and “And I Love Her” Skip It: Most of side 2, to be perfectly honest. Lots of B-side material here. Not bad, not great.
6. Help! (1965)
Do you hear that sound? That’s the sound of Lennon and McCartney coming into their own as one of the greatest songwriting duos of all time. Every original song on here is perfectly-composed, catchy, and just deeply pleasant to listen to. Easily the best collection of songs from the Beatles’ early output, while they were still just four handsome mop-topped lads who wanted to hold your hand.
Play It Again: Any of the first 13 tracks, but gun to our head? “You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away” and “It’s Only Love” and “I’ve Just Seen a Face.” It’s not a skip, but “Yesterday” is really overrated. Skip It: “Dizzy Miss Lizzy”; this wholly unnecessary, half-assed cover of yet another late-50s rock & roll classic is the only blemish on an otherwise-perfect record.
Honorable Mention: Past Masters, parts 1 & 2
Imagine being such a successful band that some of your most iconic songs don’t even make it onto LPs, but instead are just casually released as singles and then later as a compilation that holds up among your best studio albums. That’s what we’ve got here, including a German-language version of “I Wanna Hold Your Hand,” which translates to the highly-singable phrase “Komm, gib mir deine Hand.” Also your one-stop-shop for “Hey Jude,” a song that is widely beloved despite being mostly a grinding repetition of “Nah nah nah” and thematically based on comforting your bandmate’s neglected kid while said bandmate commits adultery. Very touching!
Play It Again: “Day Tripper” and “We Can Work it Out” and “Sie liebt dich” (“She Loves You”) Skip It: “The Ballad of John and Yoko”
5. Abbey Road (1969)
This is where it gets really hard. Put this one and the next four in any order you like. By all reports, the creation of this album (their final one, sort of, depending on whom you ask) was the happiest and most cooperative recording session the band had had for years. And it shows, with several uptempo songs, more than one of which alludes to the awesomeness of the sun. Iconic cover art and an all-killer-no-filler approach to song selection that was, um, not always a thing for the Beatles.
Play It Again: The unstoppable three-part suite of “Mean Mr. Mustard” and “Polythene Pam” and “She Came in Through the Bathroom Window.” Also the terribly-underrated “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)” Skip It: Nothing to skip here
4. Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967)
So here’s what we’re pretty sure happened: Brian Wilson released “Pet Sounds” the year before, and John and Paul were like “Oh, HELL no, there’s only room for one generation-defining art-rock concept album in this town, mister.” The fact that one of the Beatles’ most masterful records was based on the definitely-not-related-to-drugs premise of “What if we pretend to be an Edwardian military band?”—and it WORKED—is a testament to how precisely they had their finger on the pulse of the zeitgeist in 1967. This is hippie counterculture writ large.
Play It Again: “A Day in the Life” and the title track Skip It: “Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite”
3. Self-Titled (1968)
AKA “The White Album,” a record whose legacy is half musical and half the very idea of nicknaming a self-titled album after a color. It’s also the result of the band members pretty much hating each other and is closely related to the era in which the Beatles, in the words of the immortal Hank Hill, “went nuts in India.” This is the band’s postmodern pastiche album, frantically shifting from ragtime to pop ditty to rock anthem to vaudeville and back again. It’s a hell of a ride, and while it’s definitely more of a “mostly-killer-but-with-substantial-filler” sort of situation, the strength of the good songs, which includes some of the goofier ones like “Rocky Raccoon,” is so immense that you can sort of let the lesser ones slide.
Play It Again: “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” and “Happiness is a Warm Gun” make up probably the best consecutive 7-and-a-half minutes in the band’s catalog. Skip It: “Revolution 9”—if you listen closely, you can hear Yoko whispering “I’m gonna break up this band LOL”
2. Revolver (1966)
AKA “The Beatles Discover LSD,” this is the first album that really dives into genre-bending songwriting, but in a leaner and more focused way than “The White Album.” It’s rock, it’s pop, it’s psychedelic, it’s ambient tape loop drones, it’s sitars, it’s an early example of using the studio itself as a creative landscape, and it’s a masterpiece of work from a band that knew they wanted to reinvent themselves and did so with rock-solid confidence.
Play It Again: “Here, There and Everywhere” and “She Said She Said” Skip It: “Yellow Submarine.” Yeah, they put it here too.
1. Rubber Soul (1965)
AKA “The Beatles Discover Marijuana.” Putting this at #1 might be controversial, and there might still be some skippable tracks, but this is such a drastic pivot from the first phase of their career that we’re going to call it not just the best, but the most consequential record they made. It fuses folk, pop, rock, and early psychedelia almost flawlessly. Subsequent albums might have left a bigger footprint on music history, but don’t kid yourself: This had to come first.
Play It Again: “I’m Looking Through You” and “You Won’t See Me” and “In My Life” (the harpsichord solo alone is worthy of as much exaltation as anything they ever made) Skip It: “Michelle”—OK Paul, we get it, you hooked up with a French girl.
WASHINGTON — The Drug Enforcement Agency announced plans to reschedule marijuana from the strict Schedule I classification to the chiller Schedule III after experiencing a “mind-bending” four-night run of Phish concerts at Las Vegas’ MSG Sphere, stoked sources confirmed.
“Bro, those Phish concerts changed me. That twenty-nine minute ‘Fuego’ jam broke my brain,” said DEA Special Agent Nick Travis. “And those Sphere visuals transported me to another world. I kept turning to my associate Agent Watkins and asking ‘Is this real life?’ as everyone stood there in awe. The trippy visuals were enhanced by what I considered to be a ‘contact high’ and I’m better off for it. At one point they took us to a car wash, crazy stuff. Whatever inspired this gorgeous experience must have value to humanity. I paid seven bucks for a small bag of M&Ms and they were the most delicious morsels I’ve ever consumed.”
Fellow potheads and Phish fans are elated to hear the news of the DEA’s rescheduling and that America’s favorite jam band helped tip the scales in this historical decision.
“If anyone could sway those squares into chillaxing on the bud it’s Phish,” rambled local stoner Grasshopper Jack. “For too long we’ve have to keep an eye out for the pigs while we blaze up during a tasty Gordo bass bomb. But now we can get toasted Page Side Rage Side without being burdened by any paranoia that isn’t the result of smoking hella weed on the daily.”
Legal experts agree that while the rescheduling decision is a big step forward toward justice there is still a significant amount of damage caused by the DEA’s extant policies.
“We have to remember that the DEA’s War on Drugs has resulted in many Americans having criminal records, facing employment discrimination, or still serving prison sentences,” said Criminal Defense Attorney Travis Parks. “While watching Phish melt faces with a thirty-minute ‘Tweezer’ as an immersive display of trippy cars surround you in the most high-tech concert venue of all time is a good reason to get into weed it’s hardly an excuse for the DEA to have spent years ignoring common sense regarding their harsh classification of marijuana.”
“I have plenty of clients who would love to be enveloped by a sea of blissful pixels as Phish plays a Krautrock-inspired ‘Blaze On’ jam at the Sphere but they are currently serving prison sentences because of the DEA,” added Parks.
At press time, the DEA was still refusing to budge on LSD rescheduling despite those psychedelic Dead & Co. shows going down at the Sphere this summer.