Star Anna has learned how to rock.

Well, more accurately, she's returned to her rockin' roots. After her critically lauded 2008 debut, "Crooked Path," the 23-year-old singer-songwriter has revved up her band and ditched the acoustic country stuff for something a little noisier, namely this year's album, "The Only Thing That Matters."

The new sound, which she'll show off Saturday at the Yakima Sports Center, is driven by her band, The Laughing Dogs.

"It's more of a band record, a little bit more rock 'n' roll, I guess," she says. "A lot more rock 'n' roll, actually."

Star, born Star Anna Constantia Krogstie, grew up listening to rock 'n' roll in Ellensburg. Though the small Kittitas County town is decidedly country, Star was drawn more to groups like Pink Floyd and, later, the Dead Kennedys and The Clash.

"I hated country," she says. "The stuff they play on the radio is awful."

That changed when she discovered contemporary rebel country artists like Steve Earle and started listening to older country artists. Those influences, along with noted folk-rock-country duo the Indigo Girls, are all over her first album.

The harder-rocking sound came out during live shows with the band -- Justin Davis on guitar, Frank Johnson on bass and Travis Yost on drums -- and the new album is an effort to capture that energy. It retains Star's dark songwriting edge and the sense of world-weary longing in her voice, and has already drawn praise from such taste-makers as Don Yates, music director at Seattle's influential KEXP-FM.

"We're starting to get noticed," Star says. "We're starting to be categorized as a more well-known band, well-known around the Northwest, anyway."

That means headlining clubs the band used to open and sharing stages with luminaries such as Gillian Welch. It doesn't mean Star and The Laughing Dogs are rich and famous, exactly. The guys in the band all still have day jobs, and Star lives in a trailer -- "It's a really nice one," she quips.

But the band is making ends meet and they're getting closer to Star's career goal "to be well-known enough to be making a living and to be able to live comfortably."

With two albums already released, Star looks to be headed that way. In any case, she'll always play music. She has to.

"It's definitely a wonderful outlet," she says. "I write a lot of dark songs and a lot of heavy stuff. It's almost like exorcising demons that otherwise would just be there."

* Pat Muir can be reached at 509-577-7693 or pmuir@yakimaherald.com.

If you go

WHAT: Star Anna and the Laughing Dogs.

WHEN: 9 p.m. Saturday.

WHERE: Yakima Sports Center, 214 E. Yakima Ave.

COVER: $5.

MORE INFO: www.staranna.com.