Rock Proper

Brother Truck :: He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother

Why We Can’t Win
by Anika Balaconis

“Another plane crash, unexplained. That’s four this week.” She mused.

If you thought about it too much, it became too easy to slip over the line into a bright and comforting paranoia. After all, it would be easy for a catastrophe—so easy—to strike right now. Right now, he thought, willing something to happen….no, nothing. The earth was suffering, physically and economically. But the scientists and analysts said with raised finger: the earth can never absolutely suffer physically, for with the death of certain life forms, more are raised to take their place, or mutate to fit the changing conditions.

“But how would that affect the electronics or whatever was malfunctioning in all these planes?” She cut into his ramblings; he hadn’t realized he was muttering.

He shifted his tobacco pipe around in his mouth. It clinked on his teeth with that distinctive sound. “Perhaps it’s something like the fish oil?” he answered.

“Fish oil?” her nose wrinkled in question.

“It has become less potent, less full of those essential vitamins…because their diet has changed to fit new environmental factors. Their input changed; hence, their output changed. Have you noticed how batteries don’t last as long now? How gum loses its flavor more quickly? How the toilet doesn’t drain as fast; how the cars don’t get as efficient mileage? How the novelty of a lover wears off sooner? How…”

“—That has nothing to do with it,” she broke in, frowning.

“Perhaps not,” he put a consoling hand on her thigh,“but you see what I mean…We are losing something. Something,” he pointed his pipe in the air “is being strip-mined from the essential layers of our existence. We’re graying at the top, fraying around the edges, going at the gills, losing our oomph. Our time is coming to an end, dearest.”

“We should accept our fate and go down with our heads up,” she nodded.

“If only every other person gave a damn thirty-seven percent of the time…”

“We would win!” She sat upright.

“We might be able to come around from behind at the last possible moment and save our race, our planet.”

“Maybe it’s god, showing his disapproval.” She slumped down.

“More likely a superior race tampering with our laws just to test and torment us like child’s play. Here we are, thinking we’re quite intelligent, and then something like this happens and we realize we know nothing, nothing at all. We have no control, and some alien race can show up unnoticed, flaunting their grandiosity…”

She was sick of the intellectual talk and yet aroused by something in it; she opened her eyes wide in mock-naïveté and asked “So you think aliens are strip-mining us?”

“Come here you pretty little thing and I’ll strip-mine you.”

She squealed in delight and fell into his arms.

Tracklist: (Right click to download)
‘83 (6MB MP3)
Get Me Cruel (5.5MB MP3)
The Enemy (6.3MB MP3)
Shapes (6.3MB MP3)
Good Bye Leslie (8.8MB MP3)
Friend In Sheep’s Clothes (4.8MB MP3)
My Pilaf (4MB MP3)
Time Will Show (4.4MB MP3)
Horse (4.9MB MP3)
Julio Gets It (6.2MB MP3)
Crazy Mess (4.8MB MP3)
Philosophy (4.2MB MP3)
Unbeatable (6.1MB MP3)

Notes:
Anika Balaconis — vocals, guitar, drums, electric sitar, pump organ, bells
Jason Eckerson — vocals, guitar, drums, piano, organ
Domenico Ferri — vocals, bass guitar

All songs were recorded and engineered at Pieholden Suite Sounds by Matt DeWine except for ‘83, which was recorded by Joshua Dumas.

Cover art by Christopher Rogers

Thanks to all of our family and friends that have continually attended our shows and celebrated our sound.