The Gin Blossoms will return with their highly anticipated studio release entitled “Major Lodge Victory” on August 8th. The album is the first in almost ten years, and will feature the bands brand new single “Learning The Hard Way.” The Blossoms broke up in the spring of 1997, and each band member moved on to his own project. Vocalist Robin Wilson and drummer Phillip Rhodes launched the Gas Giants. Bassist Bill Leen retired from music to operate a rare book store. Guitarist Jesse Valenzuela fronted a short-lived outfit called the Low Watts, released a solo album, and kept busy writing and producing. Robin ventured into producing as well, at his Mayberry Studios in Tempe. The Gas Giants announced an “indefinite hiatus” in June 2001. On Dec. 4, 2001, it was announced that Scott would leave his current band, Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers, to rejoin the Gin Blossoms. The band regrouped and began playing together again in earnest (having done a couple of one-off shows in the interim) in 2002. The only Blossom not involved in the reunion is drummer Phillip Rhodes, who, for personal reasons, decided not to tour with the band. [Phil Leavitt of Dada] originally took Phillip’s place in the lineup, and then Gary Smith (of The Pistoleros, another Tempe band) stepped in. Scott Kusmirek took over drumming for the band from 2002–2004. In January of 2005, it was announced that Phil Rhodes would rejoin the band. They have been working on their latest album, which was recorded at Robin Wilson’s studio Mayberry Studios in Tempe, Arizona USA, then re-recorded at Ardent Studios in Memphis, to be released by Hybrid Recordings. “We always said our breakup wasn’t forever and right now we’re all feeling like we want to be Gin Blossoms again,” Wilson said recently. “We make a noise together that we can’t make otherwise. We respect and appreciate that we need each other to create that sound. This time we hope to avoid being swallowed by the chaos.”