The Gin Blossoms, wrote Rolling Stone in 2017, excel “at marrying world-weary lyrics with ebullient melodies.” Many of the songs on the Tempe, AZ’s 1992 breakout release New Miserable Experience, such as “Hey Jealousy”, “Found Out About You” and “Allison Road” remain in radio rotation and the band continues to play them in concert at an astounding 110 shows per year. The album sold over 5 million albums, was on the charts for almost three years, with five hit singles that played on four radio formats. 

Congratulations I'm Sorry came nearly three years later and on it Gin Blossoms illustrated its collective ability to turn out finely-wrought, catchy and lyrically compelling songs. “The rhythm section is as tight and supple as ever, and Robin Wilson’s vocals still brim with quivery emotion. The pop hooks that give the tunes their momentum are eminently hummable, whether set in an upbeat context or a melancholy meditation,” said the Los Angeles Times.

Congratulations would go Platinum, reaching #10 on the U.S. album charts (a higher spot, in fact, than the slow-burning New Miserable Experience had achieved). “Follow You Down” made the Top 10, “As Long as It Matters, which earned a Grammy nomination, and “Till I Hear it From You,” a Valenzuela/Wilson/Marshall Crenshaw co-write appended to subsequent pressings of the album, were hits as well.

Their latest album, 2017’s Mixed Reality, shares the same timeless feel as New Miserable Experience; it's packed with 15 songs, with Wilson, Leen, Johnson and Valenzuela all contributing material. And once again, the mix of songwriters results in something that has that unmistakable Gin Blossoms sound.     

That same year, the band was inducted into the Arizona Music & Entertainment Hall of Fame, a sure sign that the group's music has earned classic status. “We're descendants of the Byrds, the Rolling Stones, Tom Petty and Cheap Trick,” says Wilson. “All of that is classic rock, and that’s who we are, too.”