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Girl group Lez Zeppelin rocks, with a twist

Four women rockers who took on the music of Led Zeppelin are driving club audiences to a frenzy and, offstage, whipping up speculation over their sexual tastes with the name of the band: Lez Zeppelin.

"We have sort of a 'don't ask, don't tell' policy," says Steph Paynes, lead guitar player and the "Jimmy Page" of the group. "It's better to keep it all a mystery, and in the end it really doesn't matter. What matters is the music."

The New York-based quartet came together almost three years ago with the express purpose of covering songs by Rock and Roll Hall of Fame members Led Zeppelin.

They're among a small but growing number of all-female tribute bands Spin Magazine recently referred to as "Chicks with Picks," and include the playfully dubbed AC/DShe, Cheap Chick and The Ramonas.

"It wasn't like we decided just to do an all-girl cover band for the sake of it," Paynes said in an interview. "It was strictly me lounging on the couch, listening to a Led Zep album and being in absolute ecstasy over the music. I can't think of anything I'd rather be playing than this."

Zeppelin's brash amalgam of hard-driving rock, traditional blues and guitar-tinged ballads propelled the sale of millions of albums and made them one of the top bands of the 1970s. It disbanded in 1980 after the death of drummer John Bonham.

Paynes said the tribute group had been mulling a name for a week or two and when Lez Zeppelin was suggested, there was no question of them not using it.