4 out of 5

Because I’m in the business of trying to document anything I read or watch, with the thought that even the most obscure thing necessitates some note of its existence: here is a flyer / insert / zine thing that came with a shipment of Adult Fantasy Records material, including a Moldy Castle cassette.

But before that cassette there was another one, and “Billie Goltz” (a real person?) has an interview with lead singer “Vlaada Volko” (not a real person) about his motivations for being in / starting a band, which amounts to wanting to be cool. And despite the MC joke relying on a shtick of an inscrutable, vaguely foreign lead singer, and lots of classic rock bravado – the group plays a throwback mash of blues-rock scuzz – the zine is pretty funny, with some odd one-liners (“the band is … a jingle advertising the heat-death of your universe”) paired with juvenile humor, and does feel kinda written like an actual small press review. I allot some bonus points for the hand-written / hand-drawn vibe – the spot illustrations really aren’t required for the gag, but I appreciate ’em.

It’s a fun document of a DIY scene that labels like AFR (and its related bands) were keeping going in the modern era.