Cherry Bomb release an album every two years, and Midnight Gasoline, out September 25th, keeps that rhythm going as the Frankfurt band’s third, after Pandora’s Box in 2022 and Sunset BLVD in 2024. When we covered Sunset BLVD, we praised how fully the band had committed to the colorful charm of 80s rock. The new album keeps to the same pattern of upbeat songs, with the band’s own advice being to get in your convertible, turn up the volume, and enjoy the show.
Cherry Bomb continues their track record of proving they have command over the 80s sound. This is a colorful album filled with energetic songs, some of them frankly vulgar, like “Your Hole Is My Goal” and “Pussy Pix And Rock ‘n’ Roll,” while others are wholesome and beautifully melodic. That mix is a perfect representation of the 80s.
The title track and “Eyes Like A Tiger” are my favorites from a momentum perspective. They have great pacing, and the rhythmic energy is palpable in those two songs specifically. They feel like Van Halen, with incredibly relentless night jams.
My overall favorite, though, has to be “Silent Night.” It is supremely melodic and Christmassy, and in my opinion it has the best harmony layers on the album. It’s just a blast to listen to. The song is the band’s annual Christmas track, first released in 2024, and it features a group billed as the Cherry Bomb Allstars, including Marco Mendoza of Whitesnake, Thin Lizzy and The Dead Daisies, Eric St. Michaels, Frank Pané, Emmo Acar and Henning Wanner. The band describes it as a nod to the “We Are the World” anthem.
The album has other stories behind it. “Rockin’ Memories” was written for the festival of the same name, which Cherry Bomb headlined in its inaugural year in 2026, performing the song for the first time there. The first single, “Calling Out Your Name,” features Nici Foxx on vocals, the band’s first duet on an album. Work on the record began in 2025, and it was self-produced in guitarist Vince Vixxen’s home studio, sticking to a songwriting process the band calls successful.
That Hollywood, Sunset Strip spirit runs through everything they do, and Midnight Gasoline is built for the same kind of long summer drive that Sunset BLVD suited so well. The band is now working on its first video for the album and on a new Christmas song, so there is more to come soon.
