Two years after their 2009 debut Hope Is for Hopers, Philadelphia Grand Jury abruptly abandoned any work on a follow-up and went on “something of a hiatus” to pursue their numerous other projects. Lead vocalist Simon ‘Berkfinger’ Berckelman even absconded to Berlin with his entire home studio. The reckless, even unkempt, crossover energy of breakout single “The Good News” should’ve been the first clue as to why: Standing out in the bustling scene of mid-2000s indie rock, such as they did, was the result of each member’s external interests in punk, soul, and classics à la Olivia Newton-John (“Philip’s Not in Love with You” even jaunts into its choruses on the back of a “Wella, wella, wella” straight from the book of “Summer Nights”). Hope Is for Hopers jangled hips to spare, but its era-straddling abandon meant it could also directly threaten to murder its listeners (“I’m Going to Kill You”) before blithely announcing a newfound sexual fetish (as on “Foot in My Mouth”: “I met you on a Saturday/I kissed you and now I got your foot in my mouth”). The fact that Philadelphia Grand Jury’s debut concludes with the band unanimously yet spuriously chanting ‘I don’t want to party!’ on aptly titled closer “I Don’t Want to Party (Party)” summed up the compulsive unpredictability of both band and album: “What could possibly go wrong?”—a rhetorical point of creative difference also immortalized by the refrain of fan-favorite, “Going to the Casino (Tomorrow Night).”