BAND – CLOSET MONSTER 96
ALBUM – WHAT’S INSIDE TRIXIE’S CLOSET (RE-ISSUE)
LABEL – GROOVEYARD RECORDS
FACEBOOK – CLOSET MONSTER 96 OFFICIAL FACEBOOK PAGE
BAND MEMBERS –
Jon Koopman – Vox and Keys
Mike Dresch – Guitar and Vox
Michael Pennock – Guitar
Jeff Koller – Drums and Vox
Brian Masek – Bass and Vox

REVIEW BY – JOHN ERIGO

First off thanks again to GROOVEYARD RECORDS for another fine hard rock album to review! CLOST MONSTER 96 is a guitar driven hard rock band from South Dakota, USA. This album, WHAT’S INSIDE TRIXIE’S CLOSET is a re-issue of the bands debut album originally released in 1996. That was a time when the “hard rock” genre was really in trouble as grunge had kind of pushed hard rock and metal out of the public’s eye. While this is NOT a grunge album, it does kind of have some elements of a grunge sound in the songs. But not enough to turn away our hard rock loving ears!!!

CM96 is a real guitar driven band, there’s plenty of good chunky guitar grooves and melodic solos to keep you listening. The pace of some of the songs, and some slow down sections, is where that grunge element comes in but again, not enough to dampen the mood – no “staring at your shoes” songs here! LOL! This is good ole hard rock, with solid vocals and strong melodies. Some stand out tunes are RUNNING BLIND(which to me had some elements of early KINGS X in it), LOST, EVERY ROLL WILL ROCK, LOW, WAIT FOR NO ONE & SOMEDAY. It sucks that bands like this got completely lost on the shuffle in mid 90’s. The internet wasn’t strong enough yet to make it easy to find bands that weren’t in the limelight but I guess that is why Grooveyard records decided to give this album a re release. If you’re into guitar driven hard rock you really want to give this album a chance.