S.Y.P.H. "Wielleicht" (CD)

S.Y.P.H. 1977 was formed as a direct reaction to the Punk movement in England by Harry Rag and Thomas Schwebel (from Fehlfarben).
1979 saw their first LP "Zurück zum Beton" (Pure Freude) ("Back to the Concrete" Pure Pleasure).
1985 Wieleicht NDW (new German wave) revisited : S.Y.P.H. instead of A.I.D.S.
During a year when German pop music had reached its lowest level in years, 4 guys from Solingen near Düsseldorf – Harry Rag (vocals), Uwe Jahnke (guitar), Jürgen Wolter (bass) and Uli Putsch (drums) – released their sensational double album ‘Wieleicht’ with 20 tracks on the Ata Tak/Das Büro label, the importance of which paralleled another musical milestone from the group Fehlfarben ‘Monarchie und Alltag’ (‘Monarchy and Mundaneness`). Anarchistic fantasy, profundity and poetry, punk songs, reggae and psychedelia, rhythm flows reminiscent of Can and Brian Eno’s slow love songs made this the ‘White Album’ of German rock music (D. Diedrichsen) and Harry Rag the greatest of all German punk poets – an individual juxtaposed to the trend setters of that time. This CD remains timeless and unquestionably sincere.

"Deutsche Kultur ist Scheisse sagt der Achmed in mir und wir trinken noch ein Bier... "

"German culture’s a load of shit says the Turk in me – let’s have another beer..."

"Some people might be pleased to hear that not all German pop self-consciously denies the Anglo-American role model – though it is often most convincing when it does. Solingen’s S.Y.P.H. are that rare exception – a German group who can meet and beat any Anglo-Americans on their own terms. This double LP of material amassed during a long sabbatical but recorded in two breakneck weeks reveals a rapport between players that matches that of Bob Dylan and the Band during Basement Tape sessions. «Wieleicht » parades a similary broad range of of pleasures. A rarity among more mainstream German postpunk groups, S.Y.P.H. have a drummer with flexible wrists, a guitarist adept at scretchfunk and blastchording and genial vocalist/writer Harry Rag who resists the temptation to holler himself hoarse. the Hendrix parody heralding the sly ” German Culture Is Shit” is alone worth the price of the import.” (Biba Kopf, NME)