Bikini Carwash at Otto's Shrunken Head

Lizzie "Steelheart" Taubeneck moved to New York City from Wilmette, Illinois, and became a theater student and hair stylist. She sang in several local music acts, including Reverend Billy and the Stop Shopping Gospel Choir, and landed a bit part in the 2011 film We Are the Hartmans. Since 2010, however, her passions have unfurled as lead singer for Brooklyn's Bikini Carwash. The band presently consists of Steelheart, guitarist Cameron Majidi, bassist Andy Shaw and drummer Carrie Kamikaze. Bikini Carwash released a self-titled EP in 2014.

At Otto's Shrunken Head tonight, Steelheart sang pop melodies while the band powered the songs with fast, loud punk drive. The charismatic vocalist commanded the stage, but also the floor as she crawled and spun on the ground between audience members. Meanwhile, Majidi's stinging guitar leads, Shaw's thick bass lines, and Kamikaze's brash percussion pummeled forth, contrasting Steelheart's light and lilting vocal textures. Bikini Carwash successfully paired the hook-laden elements of pop with the roar of punk's wall of sound into a unique marriage.

Setlist:

1. Going Down
2. Night Kitchen
3. Black Roses
4. Beat Your Heart Out (The Distillers cover)
5. Dick to Kate
6. Relish
7. Everybody Knows Something Is Wrong
8. Ghost Story
9. Greenback
10. Wanted