Ask Heartless Bastards singer-guitarist Erika Wennerstrom to talk about her songs and she just might burst into tears. The tiny twenty-seven-year-old did just that at New York's Bowery Ballroom after her band wowed the crowd with a set of bone-rattling garage rock. "It's an emotional time for me," says Wennerstrom, leaning on the merch table and sheepishly wiping away a tear.

Wennerstrom has wanted to be a singer since she can remember, and she's finally getting her shot. When she shuffled onstage at the Bowery, not many noticed. But when she opened her mouth to sing, heads swiveled. The reaction comes wherever the band plays: How the hell does that huge voice come from that little woman?

Wennerstrom's inspiring wail registers somewhere between a young PJ Harvey and Robert Plant in his prime. "It's amazing to be compared to Plant," she says. "Some of our songs were pretty inspired by Zeppelin."

Mostly recorded in a single day, the Cincinnati trio's debut, Stairs and Elevators, has the raw energy of the band's live show. Wennerstrom's uplifting lyrics are bolstered by the almost-out-of-control thump of drummer Kevin Vaughn and bassist Mike Lamping. All three Bastards still hold day jobs, but probably not for long: The band was just added to the Bonnaroo lineup. Wennerstrom bartends, Lamping works at his father's janitorial-supply company and Vaughn boasts the ultimate struggling-rocker job: pizza-delivery guy. "I even have the Subaru with the missing window," he says.

Meanwhile, Heartless Bastards continue to win over fans on the road. "Before a Dayton show, some guy came up to Kevin and was like, 'How do y'all feel about playing with a girl?'" says Wennerstrom, laying on a thick Midwestern drawl. "After the show, he was like, 'Y'all need to be on Ozzfest.'"