Released in December 1988, the track was primarily composed by guitarist and vocalist Joe Genaro and bassist Dave Schulthise, though it is credited to all four band members.

"Punk Rock Girl" makes several pop culture references, from comedian Minnie Pearl to musicians Mojo Nixon and the Beach Boys.

"Punk Rock Girl" remains the band's best-known song, and has been covered by numerous artists and licensed for a variety of media.

Genaro had just graduated from Temple University and was working in its library when a musician friend spoke about wanting to write a punk rock-inflected nursery rhyme.

[3] The song references several locations from the band's hometown of Philadelphia: the couple meet at Zipperhead, a legendary counterculture clothing store in the city.

[3] The song also makes reference to psychobilly musician Mojo Nixon, whose albums the couple search for a record store, to no avail.

[4] As the song progresses, the listener discovers the punk-rock girlfriend drives a stolen car and may possibly be the daughter of the vice president of the United States (at the time of the single's popularity, Dan Quayle).

[3] The song concludes with the quartet finding increasingly creative ways to rhyme words with "girl", including "Duke of Earl", "Minnie Pearl", and "fudge banana swirl".

The group had forged a friendship with the producer over the years, having hosted each other when performing in the band's hometown of Philadelphia, and in Texas, where Beattie resided.

The album was recorded over the period of a month, during which the group rented a home with a pool, which made them "[feel] like rock stars."

[16] Several years later, the song saw a resurgence in popularity when it was featured in a segment of MTV's animated series Beavis and Butt-Head, in which the titular duo criticized the band's lax attitude and numerous mistakes and Butt-Head noted on seeing the video's conclusion where the eponymous woman and a band member steal a man's car and drive away "a real punk rock girl would eat this guy alive".

[22] To promote the single, the band guested on Club MTV with host Downtown Julie Brown, a show typically relegated for dance artists.

"[12] AllMusic's Ned Raggett, reviewing Beelzebubba, singled out the song for praise, calling it "near-perfect" and commenting, "Sprightly and catchy, it mixes the unexpectedly tender, sweet side of the band with the usual drawling humor.

[28] The song was licensed as featured music in the video game Tony Hawk's Project 8 (2006),[29] and used on the Fox television show Raising Hope.

[30] The Dead Milkmen were among the first artists to gain attention playing this more melodic strain of punk, like fellow genre pioneers NOFX and Green Day.

Tom DeLonge, guitarist for Blink-182, recalls that his first concert was the Dead Milkmen and mentions "Punk Rock Girl" fondly in an interview with Rolling Stone in 2019.

The label pushed Genaro to write more songs to feature his solo vocals, to capitalize on the success of the single, but the group refused.