Music Review: Gin Blossoms - "No Chocolate Cake"

Music Review: Gin Blossoms - "No Chocolate Cake"

I'm a sucker for pop music with a jangly Rickenbacker guitar sound. Whether it's The Byrds, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers or The Knack I'm hooked within the first 10 seconds… every time. So when the new Gin Blossoms CD, "No Chocolate Cake" landed in my mailbox this week I couldn't wait to pop it in the car stereo and go for a drive. When the first track, "Don't Change For Me," started I immediately knew that the Gin Blossoms hadn't changed and never will. And I am fine with that! What follows are standout tracks like "Miss Disarray," "I'm Ready," "Somewhere Tonight," & "Something Real."

Are there any songs here like the career defining "Hey Jealousy" or "Found Out About You?" Well, I think songs like that only come around once in a lifetime. But, these 11 new tracks would fit seamlessly with the ones on "New Miserable Experience" and that is saying a lot.

My only disappointment is that this album wasn't released in June because this is the perfect summertime CD. Lucky for me I've got a few more months of sunshine in Southern California.

There may be "No Chocolate Cake" but what the Gin Blossoms have served up is a thick slice of pure pop perfection.

Drumroll please… 8 out of 10 drumsticks.