“Please don’t request ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s’—it’s not even a Gin Blossoms song,” pleads a passage on the band’s MySpace page. If you’ve been confusing The Gin Blossoms with that other mid-‘90s lite-alt group Deep Blue Something, don’t feel bad: Chart-climbing hits like “Found Out About You” and “Jealousy” are sure to bring you right back to the post-grunge heyday, when melodic tunes and catchy hooks reigned and the Gin Blossoms ruled the airwaves.
Even better news: The band’s most recent release (last year’s Major Lodge Victory) shows that the group’s talent for crafting straightforward, Tom Petty-inspired rock songs is still intact.
“When we made the last album we asked ourselves, ‘Should we try to make it sound like emo or something?’” guitarist Scott Johnson admits. “Our conclusion was ‘No, [we] just gotta do what we do.’”
He muses, “I think we have our own kinda special rock ‘n’ roll sound. We have that Tempe, Arizona, sound and we’re proud of that. We developed that and we made it happen.”
The 20-year-old group’s mid-‘90s rise to fame was dampened by the suicide of founding member, songwriter Doug Hopkins. But after a hiatus, the Gin Blossoms reformed in 2002 and picked up almost exactly where they’d left off.
“[Being on the road] is too much fun,” Johnson confesses. “You have to pace yourself. We’re a bar band: Those guys party hard. Even in our 40s, it’s just crazy.
“If anything, sometimes I have to say, ‘Tonight I’m just going to take it easy and try not to get caught up in the party.’”
Johnson’s moderation seems to be paying off: The day he spoke to Xpress he was celebrating the release of his self-titled solo album. “I’ve always been in bands since I was a teenager, but I’ve never had to do the whole thing. When you’re the guitar player you just kind of show up, play your parts and leave,” he laughs.
Can fans expect a Gin Blossoms sound from Johnson’s solo work? He quips: “It’s very Blossom-esque, but how could it not be?”
In the meantime, the band’s tour dates (including shows with ZZ Top, The Pretenders and Brian Setzer) are keeping them busy. “It’s gonna be a big summer for Gin Blossoms,” Johnson predicts.
The Gin Blossoms play the Celebration Stage presented by US Cellular from 9-11 p.m. on Friday
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