Ink

Gone are the simple power-pop chord progressions and fast rhythms of last year’s release, Kinda Like Fireworks. Instead, the quartet offers a slowed down, more mature sound reminiscent of ’90s college rock. Think Toad the Wet Sprocket or R.E.M.

The tracks are longer and more brooding, and the sound is more full and dynamic, thanks to the addition of a second guitarist.

Jesse Kates’ dry, top-of the-throat, nasally voice has a tendency to sound too muffled during some songs, such as in the opener, “I Tried Again.” But there are times when his voice rings out clear, and he conjures up R.E.M.’s Michael Stipe, just minus the twang, most notably in the “Everybody Hurts”-esque “Failing to Play Nice.”

The ghost of the band’s power-pop past speaks up here and there. For instance, the album’s opener, “I Tried Again,” is a punchy, uplifting number … musically, anyway. The melody steps up the scales to a marchlike beat, and there are even a few power-pop stops. However, the lyrics are tragic, dealing with the cat-and-mouse chase of a lover who is impossible to pin down.

Mantoloking — named after a type of junk collateralized debt obligation, which was named after a high-class seaside town in New Jersey — deals with betrayal of all kinds. Like the credit meltdown caused by bad business practices, Kates writes tales of personal meltdowns caused by touchy subjects such as obsession, infidelity and divorce.

In fact, The Sexy Accident addresses corporate greed head on with “Buy Me Out.” The track starts out with sleazy ’70s acid-rock guitar licks that represent the glitzy, shiny money world and the smarmy, two-dimensional people who inhabit its fast track.

Kates sounds bitter as he spits out the lyrics “A grinding halt? It’s not my fault/Just ‘can’ my assistant.” Toward the end, the song breaks down as it switches gears and heads back into power-pop territory. The move makes for a jarring end to a jarring song.

Overall, the band has grown in its songwriting. Tracks such as “A Merry Christmas to You” and “The Chatty Bandit” stand out.

The former, an intricate and soul-crushing number, makes use of tinkly, chimelike guitars and female background vocals that ooze “Carol of the Bells.”

The lyrics performed by Michelle Platis are interspersed throughout the heavily layered song as she realizes she’s been spotted with another lover.

And “The Chatty Bandit” is as fun and rambling as the IM flirtations Kates sings of. However, the melody gets clunky during the chorus as the tempo downshifts.

Most bands mature, and The Sexy Accident seems to be headed in the right direction with Mantoloking. The group took a risk in adjusting its sound, but it may have been a risk worth taking.