Fans of 90’s rock group the Gin Blossoms know they took an extended break after the release of their second album, Congratulations I’m Sorry, not resurfacing again with new material until 2006’s Major Lodge Victory. During that time, all the members found new projects, none of which received as much renown as the Gins, though this is truly a mistake on history’s part, as one of these projects, singer Robin Wilson’s The Poppin’ Wheelies, is very much worth acclaim.
Hatched as an animated TV series about a teenage rock & roll band that travel through outer space with a magical guitar, while being chased by an evil witch and her minions, The Poppin’ Wheelies’ series never was produced, but an eight song “soundtrack” for the show was released in 2001, and is an exquisite collection of summery power pop. With vocals by Wilson, the album contains a number of originals, as well as covers of songs by Starclub, and one of the Gin Blossoms‘ big inspirations, the late great Tommy Keene.
Until recently, the album was only available on CD and was not an easy find for collectors, but thankfully it recently hit streaming services and had a video released, so it will hopefully find the wider audience it missed during its release.
Check it out here or below:
The Indy Review 