Smallest in the crowd

Image: Cathy Cullis

I Don't Feel Young - Wye Oak

A lot of indie pop bands, to their credit, recast the misery of being young and awkward and self-conscious as a magic of infinite possibility, constant discovery and profound connections. But what of that unaddressed misery--the lack of control, the sense that you speak too fast and laugh too loud and can't trust anyone enough to unburden the lead backpack of secrets from your shoulders? Wye Oak speaks of the purgatorial space between not feeling young but not being old enough to do anything about it. In words, but also in sound, engulfing singer Jenn Wasner's unhappiness in a snowstorm of buzzing cymbals and loud liquid guitar chords.

From If Children (eMusic, Amazon), Myspace

Great things:

Cathy Cullis' poetic textile and mixed media collages (see above).

Jezebel's mad, literary letterpress cards.