A hysterical idea only semi-hysterically executed, Brother Vs. Brother slaps together the disparate worlds of underground rock and American Civil War re-enactment, cheekily drawing some parallels between them but mostly just goofing around with the idea. Chunklet Magazine, the wicked, pointed publication behind articles like "Is This Guy The Biggest Asshole In Rock?" and "Fuck You And Your Shitty Band," mustered three troops to attack musicians in Austin at the 2004 South By Southwest Music Conference, arming them with some ridiculous questions and wool Civil War uniforms.
These faux re-enacters accost Ted Leo, Mark Eitzel, Bob Weston, and other luminaries of indie-rock—all of whom are clearly aware, it should be noted, that this is a joke—with questions like "If the Civil War were re-enacted with rock music, who would win?" and "Do you have a problem with record labels that use interns, which is much like slavery?" Most interviewees, though clearly and understandably unprepared, do their best to play along, but as other guerrilla-tactic comedy interviews have shown, most of the laughs spring from the people asking the questions, while the guest stars play amiably along—even Ted Leo, who's confronted by a disagreeable Rebel yelling "Ted Leo likes to rape children!"