A decade and a half since defining that era’s post grunge pop rock experience with “Hey Jealousy,” “Found Out About You” and the Top Ten Billboard pop hits “Till I Hear It From You” and “Follow You Down”—and four years since the release of a Major Lodge Victory—an album Billboard called “an effortless triumph of melodic perfection”—Gin Blossoms are at the top of their seamless harmonic songwriting game with No Chocolate Cake. Because the band members no longer live in the same city—Wilson divides his time between Tempe and New York, Valenzuela is in Los Angeles--putting the sonic pieces of No Chocolate Cake together presented an exciting new challenge for the Gin Blossoms. Gin Blossoms have always benefited from that innate sense of chemistry and inspiration. From the band's birth in their hometown of Tempe, Arizona, their fanbase grew quickly as they earned a great reputation as a live act. Readers of the Phoenix New Times chose them as the city's best rock band, qualifying them to play at the South by Southwest Music Festival in Austin, Texas in March, 1989. Later that year, CMJ dubbed them the “Best Unsigned Band in America” and invited them to play MTV's New Music Awards in New York City.