Hill and Revell shared a house and an interest in the manifesto of the German radical Marxist group known as the Sozialistisches Patientenkollektiv (SPK).
[1] The duo were influenced by Kraftwerk, Can, Neu!, Faust, and John Cage – they started playing their own variety of industrial music as SPK.
[1] According to rock music historian Ian McFarlane the acronym SPK is variously given as "SoliPsiK, SepPuKu, Surgical Penis Klinik, System Planning Korporation and Sozialistisches Patienten Kollektiv".
[2] In that year they independently released three 7" pressings: SoliPsiK as a three-track extended play in April, "Factory" as a single in August and "Mekano" in November.
[3] McFarlane suggested "the album's harsh, thumping sound appealed to fans of Throbbing Gristle and early Cabaret Voltaire".
Other musicians working with SPK included James Pinker (drums, percussion) and Karel van Bergan (violin, vocals), who toured with them to the United States.
"Kraang", later of Foresta Di Ferro and Death In June) and Derek Thompson (who later had a brief stint in The Cure and went on to record as Hoodlum Priest).
After its recording they were joined by Sinan Leong on vocals, who had initially auditioned for a planned SPK side-project, Dance Macabre.
[5] McFarlane found that "SPK had softened the approach somewhat with discernible synth melodies and dance beats coming to the fore amongst the noise".
[2] In August 1983, the group issued a compilation album, Auto Da Fé, showing SepPuKu written with SPK in red capital letters.
[2] McFarlane saw the album as "mixed mainstream disco-pop and sweet vocals with electronic experimentation (sort of like Blondie meets Kraftwerk)".
Allmusic's Sean Carruthers observed that Revell "was in a period of transition... [s]omewhere between the industrial noise of the early years and his later soundtrack work".
McFarlane regarded SPK to be "at the forefront of the local post-punk, electronic/experimental movement of the late 1970s ... [their] music progressed from discordant, industrial-strength metal noise to sophisticated and restrained dance-rock with strange attributes".
The most well known is Sozialistisches Patienten Kollektiv, but there are also others, such as Surgical Penis Klinik, System Planning Korporation, SepPuKu, Selective Pornography Kontrol, Special Programming Korps, Sushi Patata Kalabacita and SoliPsiK The most notable recordings of SPK are early: Information Overload Unit, Leichenschrei and Auto-da-fé.