Review
Galactic Cannibal
We're Fucked

Goddamn, these are some brutally hoarse vocals. Like the kind that makes my voice hurt just thinking about singing along, and I mean that in the best possible way.

Galactic Cannibal are a Milwaukee punk band comprised of brothers Nick Woods (Direct Hit!) and Peter J Woods (noise artist). Throw those comparisons out the window, though, as this slams the pedal to the floor on second #1 and it’s pounding and furious hardcore punk for the next half-hour. The vocals are coarse and raw in a way that reminds of American Steel’s debut (“Up Against the Wall” reminds me of “Sloppy Fucking Drunk”) and occasionally there’s a melodic touch to the delivery that reminds of some harder-edged streetpunk bands. Music-wise, the album hits with forceful anger and wall-punching fury.

While the hardest hitting part of the record just may be the first five seconds, it really never let’s up from that face punch of an opening. “We’re Fucked” has some hints of a melodic core and even a couple of tolerable chugga chugga riffs, the intro in “Invisible” has shades of a Kiss of Death Records-type punk, and “The Breath Before” includes a catchy pop-punk hook, but the record is mostly just short, fast, and loud fury. Comparisons to the Woods brothers’ other bands are futile. The poppiness of Direct Hit! is void and, well, I just don’t see how one can make parallels between this and Peter J Woods’ solo work—they’re different beasts. One thing is definite, though, and that is that Peter has a fine hardcore voice that I’d love to hear more of.

I came into this record on a whim, reading descriptions more than associations, and its nine songs deliver some seriously aggressive punk. Over the quick-play record there really aren’t any obvious faults. A couple of songs are maybe a touch repetitive, but that seems to the point in the band playing this style of music in the first place. The cliché of clichés is to never judge a book by its cover, but this one time it’s pretty accurate: this record is a punch in the face.