Gin Blossoms
Gin Blossoms is an American Power Pop band formed in 1987, in Tempe, Arizona. They took their name from a photo of W.C. Fields which bore the caption "W.C. Fields with gin blossoms", referring to what appeared to be the actor's gin-ravaged nose, but was actually a skin condition known as rosacea. They hit it big in 1993, when the singles "Hey Jealousy", "Found Out About You", "Allison Road" and "Until I Fall Away" from their 1992 album New Miserable Experience all became major pop and rock radio hits.
Founding guitarist and songwriter Doug Hopkins killed himself 1993, shortly after he had been dismissed from the band. The band broke up in 1997 after their third album Congratulations...I'm Sorry, but reformed in the mid-2000s.
Discography:
- Dusted (1989)
- New Miserable Experience (1992)
- Congratulations...I'm Sorry (1996)
- Major Lodge Victory (2006)
- No Chocolate Cake (2010)
Gin Blossoms provides examples of the following tropes:
- Breakaway Pop Hit: "Til I Hear It From You", one of their biggest pop hits, was originally released on the soundtrack to the box office failure Empire Records.
- Ear Worm: All the hits, really.
- Lyrical Dissonance: Jangly, up-tempo songs about depression and alcoholism.
- Mohs Scale of Rock and Metal Hardness: somewhere in the 3-5 range.
- Shout-Out: to people and places in the Tempe area; the song Mrs. Rita is about a local psychic.
- Tear Jerker: Competition Smile, 29, Until I Fall Away