Cheap Trick - All Washed Up (2025)

Cheap Trick's sugar-high power-pop influence cannot be overstated (hi, Weezer and Fountains of Wayne and Fall Out Boy and My Chemical Romance). But on the band's 21st album, All Washed Up, they seem to be taking cues from '80s hair metal—which itself was often influenced by glam rock and … Cheap Trick. The title track, which features frontman Robin Zander sounding appealingly louche and sleazy as he issues lines like "Light me up and turn me on," is a snarling good time that evokes the heyday of Faster Pussycat. "Dancing With the Band" is cheesy fun that rushes at you like a spray of Aqua Net: Zander opens up by hollering "How you doing tonight?!" like he's right back at Buddokan, and big-top showman Rick Nielsen goes to 11 with his flaming-hot guitar solo. Zander's throat-shredding delivery sounds like he's getting ready for Headbangers Ball on solid "All Wrong Long Gone," and "The Best Thing" is a total power ballad. That one features Zander's daughter, Robin Sailor Zander, on backing vocals; in fact, Cheap Trick is now a family affair. Nielsen's son Daxx has taken over drummer duty after the band parted ways with longtime member Bun E. Carlos over a messy financial dispute. And Zander's son Robin Taylor Zander adds extra guitar and backing vocals (yes, you're reading that right—Robin Zander named both his son and daughter after himself). Zander the elder adopts an operatic, almost medieval vocal style on menacing "Bet It All," flutters his way through "Love Gone," and struts all over "The Riff That Won't Quit." The bluesy riff in question is Aerosmith-esque, and the title is a reminder of the tongue-in-cheek humor that Cheap Trick perfected with songs like "Surrender" and "He's a Whore." Indeed, every once in a while you get a glimpse here of classic Cheap Trick. Hooky "Bad Blood" slithers like an earworm and "Twelve Gates" recalls the band's Lap of Luxury era. And All Washed Up ends with "Wham Boom Bang," a glam treat gussied up by piano, woodwind and finger snaps. It's an entertaining little ditty that reminds you of the band's wonderfully weird side. No wonder Zander sounds like he's having a blast singing the title.

TRACKLIST

1. Cheap Trick - All Washed Up
2. Cheap Trick - All Wrong Long Gone
3. Cheap Trick - The Riff That Won't Quit
4. Cheap Trick - Bet It All
5. Cheap Trick - The Best Thing
6. Cheap Trick - Twelve Gates
7. Cheap Trick - Bad Blood
8. Cheap Trick - Dancing With The Band
9. Cheap Trick - Love Gone
10. Cheap Trick - A Long Way to Worcester
11. Cheap Trick - Wham Boom Bang