By GUY D'ASTOLFO

By GUY D'ASTOLFO
VINDICATOR ENTERTAINMENT WRITER
HESE ARE EXHILARATING TIMES for Cherry Monroe.
The glam-rock band, whose members hail from the Youngstown and Pittsburgh areas, released its first major-label album Tuesday.
Fueled by record-company backing, they've been on a rocket-ship ride that's seen them crisscross the country, doing shows and promotions. Now they're on the verge of bigger things.
The excitement can be intoxicating, but the band members are keeping their heads straight.
"This month is so crucial," said Matt Toka, lead singer. "The CD will be out, and we have to see how it sells, and how to market it."
Toka, of Youngstown, and drummer Jason Levis, an Ellwood City, Pa., native, were in the area last week for a short respite from their hectic schedule.
They'll be back Saturday for a show at McMenamy's in Niles that will serve as the band's Youngstown CD-release party.
Their baby
With all the anticipation and preparation involved, he likened its release to the birth of a child.
"This is our baby," said Toka of the album, titled "The Good, the Bad and the Beautiful."
"We don't sleep. It's constant promotion. We're always in the van going to the next place," said Toka. "Dinner is usually a candy bar at a gas station. But hard work pays off."
Toka and Levis can sense that no matter what the future holds, they'll never forget these days.
So what's life like on the brink of the big-time?
"Stressful," said Toka. "And exciting. We're at a perfect point in time. But we just don't know what will happen next."
Levis agreed, but he said the band is not about to lose its way.
"We're business-oriented," he said. "We're not going to get too caught up in the excitement."
Toka called it a humbling experience. "We're very fortunate. Most people never get to do what they love, and find success in it."
Said Levis, "Even if we sell a million records, it'll never be like this again."
'Satellites'
The band -- which also includes Dave Saltzman of Greensburg, Pa., on bass; Ryan Harris of Beaver, Pa., on lead guitar; and Frankie Bennett of Austintown on rhythm and lead guitar -- has been together for only about a year and a half. But they knew they were on to something right from the start.
"Everyone in the band is so driven and committed," said Toka.
The first single, "Satellites," has been getting strong radio play in Youngstown and other cities. Toka described how the song came together and the role it played in melding the five newly acquainted members into a band.
"We had just met each other, and it was the first thing we worked on," said Toka. "I had the basics of the song and everybody added to it. That's when we really clicked as a group. That song is what sparked it. That's when we knew we had chemistry."
Outside of a few new songs, the new album, which is on Universal Records, is the same as the band's first CD, a self-titled indie-label release that came out last October. But Levis said the similarities end there.
"If you liked the first CD, you will love this one," he said. "It's better production, bigger sound. The guitars and everything sound so much better. I cried when I first heard it!"
Toka said the whole band gets involved in the creative process. "I may present a stripped down portion of a new song to the band, and they'll take it up and finish it," he said. "This is truly a band."
Fan base
It has taken the band just a year to assemble a solid fan base throughout the Midwest, where it gets wildly positive reactions in such cities as Terre Haute, Ind.; Green Bay and Wausau, Wis.; and Toledo, not to mention Youngstown, Cleveland and Pittsburgh.
So how did Cherry Monroe ripen so quickly?
Touring, radio play and an over-the-top live show are part of it, but mostly, it's the music.
Veins of Motley Crue, Guns 'N Roses, and even the Cure are marbled through their polished sound. Powered by '80s exuberance, their music muscles its way into listener's ears.
"Decades of influence run through our music," said Levis.
That's the state of Cherry Monroe.
Roots in the past. Eyes on the future.
And definitely enjoying the moment.