S.Y.P.H. - s/t LP

Label: Tapete

Release Date: April 25th, 2025

With explosive live shows and tracks like “Zurück zum Beton” and “Industriemädchen,” S.Y.P.H. made waves in the late ’70s as one of the first bands to write punk lyrics in German, emerging from Düsseldorf’s iconic Ratinger Hof scene. From the beginning, they defied genre norms, blending elements of punk, krautrock, rock, Dadaism, and everyday life into something entirely their own.

Following their debut and several singles, the band recorded two groundbreaking albums — Pst and their untitled fourth album — with CAN’s legendary Holger Czukay. Tapete Records now reissues both, along with Punkraut 1978–1981, a collection of previously unreleased rarities.

What began as fan worship turned into full-blown collaboration: in 1980, S.Y.P.H. entered CAN’s famed Innerspace Studio, where Czukay not only produced but also contributed instrumentally — adding horns, bass, percussion, and harmonica to tracks like “Do the Fleischwurst.” The sessions were spontaneous and mostly live, capturing the band’s raw energy and eagerness to evolve beyond punk into uncharted sonic territory. As vocalist Harry Rag recalls, “We probably didn’t know exactly what we were doing at the time. After five days, the studio days were over and we went home.”