Ostensibly a side-project for Devin McKnight of Speedy Ortiz and Ovlov drummer, Theo Hartlett, Philadelphia Collins’ fuzzy slacker rock is in a similar ballpark to their day jobs, but they actually sound like they’re having even more fun on Derp Swervin’. Calling in a handful of guest vocalists, including Palehound’s Ellen Kempner and Two Inch Astronaut’s Sam Rosenberg, lends each track a slightly different flavor to the last and makes for a charmingly diverse 18 minutes. Anyone partial to a cereal variety pack combining Ben Folds’ rockier moments, Lemuria fuzz-pop and the lo-fi melancholy of Heatmiser is in serious luck.
FOR FANS OF: Heatmiser, Screaming Females, Desaparecidos
www.philadelphiacollins.bandcamp.com
(this review was originally published in rock sound magazine issue 203 Summer 2015)
GARETH PIERCE 