I've just returned from Europe, and not surprisingly I arrived stateside jonesing for a cheeseburger and to hear some good old punk rock in English. In Italy, the airwaves are dominated by the decidedly unpunk yet strangely soothing sounds of Ligabue, a rock singer/writer/director/Communist Party official. It's pretty popular, but not exactly my thing.

The first thing when I got home was fire up the computer and the turntable and throw on a record which happened to be Primary Colors, the latest from the Austin, Texas all-girl group, Finally Punk. It was pretty literally the first thing I did, as I'm sitting here with my laptop perched atop an unopened suitcase, writing this post.

Finally Punk is a band that is obviously picks up moves forward where riot grrl bands like Bikini Kill and Bratmobile left off - so obviously that the depiction was also painted by Bikini Kill's Tobi Vail, who loves them, as do the folks at MaximumRockNRoll, who gave Finally Punk mention on their cover last month.

These ladies combine low-fi punk riffs with catchy guitar hooks and smooth melodies, then they mangle and intersperse them with chunks of discordant noise, chaotic time changes and alternating sweet and harsh vocals. It's off-putting and addictive at the same time, and if riot grrl punk is going to see resurgence, this is the band that will be on the forefront of its resurrection.

Primary Colors is the best slab of DIY vinyl I've heard in a while, eight songs that clock in at under 10 minutes, with a diverse range of chaotic sounds that all wrap up to paint a pretty complete picture of Finally Punk. It's a nice deal, too, as the 7" comes with a CD version of the record as well, allowing to you to immediately get this record onto your MP3 player, rather than wait for that USB turntable you'll (hopefully) find under the tree at Christmas.

On a quick segue, that's a trend I hope we see more and more of, packaging vinyl releases with either a CD copy of the record or a code for a digital download. It helps vinylphiles do what they like to do, but allows them to easily listen to their favorite records on their MP3 players as well.

You can hear samples of Finally Punk, and order Primary Colors, through the band's MySpace Site.

Cover Art courtesy of Army Of Bad Luck Records