Birmingham, Alabama's Slack Times return with "Casting", their second proper full-length for Meritorio and a record that stretches their beautifully understated guitar pop in some interesting new directions. The jangling melodies and intimate songwriting are still firmly in place, but this time there's a little more noise and muscle around the edges.

Recorded live to tape in Columbus, Mississippi in just a handful of takes, "Casting" has exactly the loose, spontaneous feel you'd hope for. Early Flying Nun and K Records remain useful reference points, but touches of Luna, Yuck and even Sonic Youth creep into the guitars while the band somehow keeps everything warm, melodic and wonderfully unhurried. No desperate attempts to sound important - just really bloody good guitar songs.

Nine tracks, beautifully concise and another reminder that Meritorio has a frighteningly good ear for this kind of stuff. If jangly, slightly fuzzy indie pop with proper melodies is your thing, Slack Times should be firmly on the radar!