#wildcatting

Anderson-Prichard Oil Co. Wildcatting

Caveman Woodman & Bam Bam Moss is another solid addition to the Bellyache roster 

By Michael Ross

  Many folks know Frank Woodman as the foremost gregarious showman of Detroit rock ’n’ roll. Still more know Brandon Moss as the seemingly eight-armed skinsman of luminous mainstays Wildcatting, Bars of Gold and (legendary, albeit defunct) Bear vs. Shark. As Caveman Woodman, Frank is regularly seen and heard at events around town — setting up on the sidewalk, in the corner, on the balcony, and in the bathroom. Of late (and on this platter) he’s joined by Bam Bam Moss, and together they deliver something like the Kingsmen meet the Bay City Rollers; that is, primal faux-fur beats and bashings dressed up in the sparkly boots of glam hooks and singalong harmonies.

On this six-song EP, you get four songs proper and a bonus "improv" on each side. All the songs clock in around two minutes, with just one breaking the three-minute mark. It's all the punk-glam-primal-fuzz you can handle. Opener "What Would Caveman Do" sounds like a lost Damned track, all speed and shouty choruses. "Starting a Dance Craze," the "long" song, leaves a bit of room for both instruments to stretch out between verses. "Gimme Some More" and "Letting You Down" both showcase Woodman's way with a hook and a melody — the guy's been writing songs for a while now, and he's got some good tricks up his tattered leopard-skin sleeve.

While many decry the way "media" has crumbled under the weight and immediacy of our 140-character world, there are still a ton of really good writers doing really good writing. I just wish I had more time to enjoy their work. I probably send a dozen or more articles to Instapaper a week, many of them longreads. Try as I might, I never seem to get through all of them. And that says nothing of the stack of magazines that have piled up. 

That's one of the reasons why this story struck me. I was hooked. Like a good summer novel, it was captivating and I couldn't put it down. The author, Susan Elizabeth Shepard, tells the story with a graceful conversational tone rich with details about Williston, North Dakota.