ZYPH – Einz

Beschreibung

The entire press release could be summarized in one short sentence. ZYPH make punk for punks! That says it all.

But this presents a small problem. What people classify as punk has become so broad that the term no longer has any inherent meaning. German rock bands, funny slapstick, even funnier rappers, and everything else fall under this umbrella. Add to that the funny discussion that one has the right to simply install a new definition due to one’s late birth. Anyone who disagrees is one of the… well, you know the accusations yourself.
I’ve actually decided to move on, leave the playground to others; after all, it’s only right and proper for punk to dismantle and redefine itself (depending on one’s point of view, of course).

… and then this, or rather, ZYPH.

A friend asked me to listen to the songs, which he recorded in his rehearsal room on a 4-track recorder. He had mastered the songs a bit, but not much. Well, no sooner said than done. The songs played, and I wondered if he’d perhaps swapped the master. What I heard didn’t sound like Mannheim, it sounded like Erfurt in ’91 or Wegeleben in ’95! Rough, uncouth, straightforward. You can’t write something like that between two lectures. A sound from a time when we hung out in squats and waited for the next fascist attack, full of rage and fear. Punk without frills, without pseudo-witty lyrics, punk that’s at home on the streets and that has no illusions about its future.
I can’t even begin to express how happy this record makes me. On the one hand, it’s this little trip back in time, of course, and on the other, it’s the joy that the rage I felt 35 years ago still exists. Incidentally, this rage and this despair were the reason we kids became punks. And ZYPH bring this feeling back to life.
So if you like old post-reunification East German punk, you should give this a listen.