Fancy Trash tricked me. They got me worked up about songs that didn't make the cut for their upcoming CD Three Cheers for the Cheated. Then, not only did they release those songs on the new EP Weighted Down, but the "overlooked" songs actually hit the streets first. I'll bet the guys were worried that the songs on Weighted Down wouldn't stand on their own merit, sounding like the leftovers they technically are. But if you know Fancy Trash, you know they don't do throwaways.

Weighted Down surprises at every turn. The title track doesn't bust-the-seams like it does live, taking an elegant turn instead. "Not Important" comes next, another live staple that translates well. The third track, "When It's Loud," might be the one song that suffers in the studio, which would make sense given it's a song about being loud that is performed loudly. Fourth comes "Let Me Be The Fool," a song I have criticized in the past for being a little under par. The guys have always seen something in this song I didn't. On this EP, I finally see why - the horn section brings out the best in this one. "Days That I Don't" follows, the one song that doesn't quite fit. That’s because "Days That I Don't" is one of the band's biggest triumphs. It serves as the peak of this CD, but a song this good probably should have ended up on Three Cheers.

Most songs have some type of gap somewhere, a transition point that is choppy. "Days That I Don't" has a confident sway from beginning to end - ironic for a song about self-esteem battles. "Days That I Don't" heads to greatness courtesy of a stunning vocal performance by Dave Houghton, who has never exhibited more mastery over his lights and darks. "Half of Nothing" is another surprise. Like "Weighted Down," I expected "Half of Nothing" to struggle without its live intensity. But the studio suits "Half of Nothing" well. Maybe the studio polish tones down the agony a little. The EP closes with "Fair Weather Friend," another solid entry which sports a fine bass line by Josh Thayer.

According to Houghton, Weighted Down is the most personal of any of their records. Having heard all three, I'd have to agree. "Out the window with my self-esteem," a telling line from "Days That I Don't," is a good indication that Weighted Down is indeed heavy. But Dave goes further in "Half of Nothing," singing of "a storm of a boy, and he didn't know right, and he did not know of a better life." The songs in Weighted Down straddle the present and the past with an awareness that you don't so much leave your problems behind as find a more socially acceptable way of stowing them until you have the opportunity to vent properly.Weighted Down has very good ventilation.

But the strange thing is that while the lyrics are rough, the mood of the album is not depressing. Part of it is the band's "warm" acoustic bass sound, but it's got more to do with a new Fancy Trash presence, an undertow of swagger from a band that is now pretty damn comfortable in its own skin.

It's not surprising that the songs on Weighted Down are good. What is surprising is how well they hold up together. Weighted Down is much more cohesive than your typical collection of outtakes. With its no-frills production and naked emotional themes, Weighted Down forms a musical bridge between the first CD (the self-titled Fancy Trash) and Three Cheers. Without Weighted Down, we might have wondered how Fancy Trash got from their more conventional first record to their more radical second release. The EP shows us how: through the emergence of a darker world view and a more aggressive sound. But some of that story is still to come. Weighted Down brings us inside that process, with personal reflections that turn into a new kind of resolve on Three Cheers.