Casual Goths

Let’s face it, the world's been waiting for the next wave of the Girl Power movement since the Spice Girls demise. We need pop branded sweets and stickers, a Girl Power plane, the outfits, the household appliances, maybe even a girl power thermos or own brand alcohol. Bring on SwineFlu spice, BNP spice, Obama spice (Mel O?), ASBO spice and a second, yes a second, Ginger spice! Can all-female quartet Finally Punk then – emergents from the garage rock scene incumbent to most of American at present – better the Spice Girls last effort with this, a 26-track collection of three 7’s and more than a handful of unreleased/rare tracks…

OK, so there's no spices here. Of any kind. Sigh! Instead this is rough low-fi garage girl rock, similar to say, Bikini Kill. The songs clock in at around the minute mark so a 26-track album suddenly seems very brief. Each one thrashes in and out with undecipherable vocals. Most of the songs sound like they were thrown together in one run through, thought up on the spot. If music like this is being upheld in a positive light, it seems quite clear that just about anyone can and should take a crack at the market. Indeed, these femmes have been strongly touted by YeahYeahYeah’s Karen O and Pitchfork. One could see similarities between Finally Punk and Karen O; the YYY’s early hours must have sounded like this. Though, although she hails this lot, Karen O, full of ability herself, would never have allowed her band to remain this retarded. Not in a million years. Is it a call to arms because genuine all girl punk bands are a hard thing to come across?  

There are charming moments; the fleeting seconds of ‘Henry ‘or ‘Australia’, there’s the much lauded version of Nirvana’s’ Negative Creep’ which adds nothing new to the original but will obviously help in drawing in interest. But yes, here and there, the casual listener will find some semblance in the chirpy fun hidden amidst all of this mess. It is fun but it is also really for the fans. This is not a great introduction for anyone else. It gets a 3/5 purely because Finally Punk show a huge level of promise, they COULD amount to good and great big things. If Karen O gets her mits on them, who knows. And it is good to see all female bands trying to dislodge superiority that the likes of Lady Gaga and Little Boots etc are claiming as their own these days. But for now, if you want a proper girl rock injection just listen to anything by Electrelane. There lies the truth and the gospel. Praise the Lord!