Danielle AndersonStarting with the stage name Danielle Ate the Sandwich and extending to her unabashedly silly intros to YouTube videos, her press photos, her jokey stage banter, and her ukulele, Danielle Anderson projects a whimsical image that's a marked contrast to her voice and her songs.

And while she made that bed to sleep in, she's not hesitant to say that it irritates her when people don't take her music seriously. "I hate when people laugh or call my songs 'cute' and 'little' and 'funny,'" the Colorado-based singer/songwriter said in a phone interview this week, promoting her June 2 show at Rozz-Tox in Rock Island.

Despite the gimmickry that suggests a novelty act, the 25-year-old Anderson is worth watching. Her third album, last year's Two Bedroom Apartment, is mature and even startling in its writing and performance.