Day Party Crawl

The Coathangers (Photo by Shelley Hiam)

Music Made By Women

Ms. Bea's, Wednesday

Organized by Finally Punk/the Carrots singer Veronica Ortuño and NYC all-ages promoter Todd P, Wednesday's female-focused showcase promised youthful energy early on when 21-year-old UK singer/guitarist Mica Levi, aka Micachu, and her twopiece band, the Shapes (keys and drums), doled out spirited racket from excellent Rough Trade debut Jewellery. Despite the heat on her pasty skin, Levi's voice was low and soulful, accentuating the hopscotch pop of "Vulture" and "Lips." Seattle fourpiece Tacocat dug into its riot grrrl pedigree with pop-punk about Anna Nicole Smith, leotards, and urinary-tract infections. A delightfully sloppy, spot-on cover of Bikini Kill's "Carnival" sealed the deal. Atlanta fourpiece the Coathangers' upcoming Suicide Squeeze debut, Scramble, brings to mind the phone-slamming punk rawk of Long Beach's Red Aunts, only with a Southern middle finger. Live, the instrument-switching ladies screech like Edith Bunker, most often at one another, like they're having a drunken conversation over spiraling riffs and bumpy basslines. It was a sublimely agitated set, and for the final song, long, tall drummer Stephanie Luke grabbed the mic, dropped to her knees, and screamed, "You can go fuck yourself!" before spitting into the air. Ortuño's Carrots took the stage in outfits less matching than usual, but the local girl group sextet has taken on a soul glow. It's good to be a girl.