6th night of Chanukah: The Porcelain Boys - Fetish for Female tape (1989) & Live at the 7th St. Entry 11/5/89

Since 2009 I've been dedicating ones and zeroes to a band called the Porcelain Boys, one of Minnesota's finest exports, whose brief but powerful catalog rivals that of "the big three" from Minneapolis (surely you know who I'm referring to).  Before I delve too far into the details of this much sought after tape, I'm going to provide you with a little backgrounder on the band that I've spliced together from previous writings.

The Delwood, MN trio known as the Porcelain Boys released two demo tapes and two singles in their first incarnation, which from my estimation spanned the mid-80s to about 1990 or '91. Many of their non-local fans became acquainted with them via their cut "Sidetrack" appearing on the Lookout Records compilation, Can of Pork. The lineup for these early releases was: Erik Kaiser (lead vocals, percussion), Tom Spence (guitar) and Scott Cook (bass). Yes, the P/B's possessed a singing drummer in their lineup, just like Genesis and Husker Du.  The Boys gnarly take on the whole "popcore" thing, as it turned out, proved to be just as gratifying and substantive as the smartest work of their influential antecedents, The Descendants/All and Doughboys. Truly endearing, hook-savvy, romantically-frustrated punk-pop at it's finest.

In just about all of my PB entries thus far I've expressed my desire to own an original copy of their second cassette album Fetish For Female.  Since the mid-90s, I had been getting by with a decent sounding dub-of-a-dub, but was looking for the genuine article.  Early this year, one of my readers heeded my call and gave me the second "pressing" (if you can even describe a tape as such) of his tape.   I was extremely grateful.  A few months ago however I befriended another big Porcelain Boys fan, and he offered to lend me his "first run" copy of the tape to digitize, the assumption being that it was the lowest generation of the cassette available.  It's been a long time coming, but after all these years I'm sharing files of that elusive but oh so splendid reel, Fetish For Female.

So what's all the hubbub about?  In a nutshell, I'm just enamored with the songs, and it's probably my favorite album that's never made it to CD or vinyl.  Adept playing, swift arrangements, homegrown production, saucy one-liners, and a myriad of underdog motifs are the key ingredients that have me running back to Fetish... time and again.  More PB songs were recorded shortly after this tape (including the aforementioned "Sidetrack") but most have yet to see the light of day.  The band reunited for an album and a tour in the mid-90s.  You can read about that chapter in their career here.

Along with FFF, you can also check out a live performance in Minneapolis circa late 1989, which was touted to be their last (it wasn't),  They run through a mess o' tunes from the tape in question as well as the stellar If You Were Real ep, not to mention halfway-there Doughboys and Fugazi covers.  Links (incl WAV versions for you lossless types) and full tracklists are below.  Knock yourself out.  Big thanks to James and John for fixing me up with everything.

Fetish For Female tape (1989)
01. Just Another Stupid Girl Song
02. Everytime
03. Red
04. Bedtime
05. Mirror
06. Just Then
07. G.B.F.
08. Gone
09. Freeway Hate Song
10. Week to Week

Live @ the 7th Street Entry, Minneapolis 11/5/89
01. Everytime
02. G.B.F.
03. Someday
04 & 05 - titles unknown
06. Just Another Stupid Girl Song
07. Just Then/Home Again
08. instrumental
09. Freeway Hate Song
10. title unknown
11. Fortune Favors the Bold
12. If You Were Real
13. Problem no. 1
14. Bikeage
15. Knowledge/Waiting Room
16. Bedtime/outro

Fetish for Female:  MP3  or  WAV
live 1989, Minneapolis: MP3  or  WAV