Three Cheers for the Cheated

New England-based music fans have, unfairly or not, an instant mental image that comes up immediately upon hearing the phrase "an all-acoustic trio from Northampton, Massachusetts": painfully earnest, weedy singer/songwriter folk equally devoid of both energy and humor, probably with lyrics about whales and/or nuclear energy. This is quite happily not at all the case with Northampton trio Fancy Trash, whose second album has much more in common with the indie-folk of M. Ward, and even Mercury Rev's rural psychedelia. Singer/songwriter Dave Houghton has an edgy, nervous quality in his vocal style that at times recalls the Flaming Lips' Wayne Coyne and the Rev's Jonathan Donahue. His propulsive guitar style, meshing folk-rock jangle, and punkier influences push the songs, with the stand-up bass and rattletrap drums hanging on as best they can, even on relatively low-key tracks like "Deeply Concerned." Without settling too comfortably into any one particular niché of the contemporary folk-rock scene — they're not weird enough for Devendra Banhart fans, nor country enough for the children of Uncle Tupelo — Three Cheers for the Cheated is a big step up from Fancy Trash's scattershot debut, showcasing the band's strengths on 11 varied, energetic songs.