KaS Product -

KaS Product was a French post-punk/minimal wave duo that released two 1980 EPs on self-press Punk Records, followed by the 1982/83 RCA albums Try Out and By Pass and their 1986 swan song Ego Eye.

Members: Mona Soyoc (vocals, guitar, piano), Spatsz (electronics, electronic drums, synthesizer)

Background

KaS Product assembled in January 1980 in Nancy when Mona Soyoc (b. Stamford, Connecticut) teamed with Daniel Favre (b. Loisy, 1957), who performed under the name Spatsz. Soyoc had performed in jazz clubs before relocating to France; Favre had worked as a psychiatric nurse before turning to electronics.

Mind (EP)

KaS Product released their debut EP, Mind, in April 1980 on Punk Records.

The four originals move through spare, low-register electronics and tightly compressed arrangements, with Soyoc’s vocals pushed to the front across most of the running time. “Dr. Insane” closes the EP at ten seconds.

A1. “Mind” (2:40)
A2. “Black & Noir” (1:50)

B1. “Seven” (3:40)
B2. “Dr. Insane” (0:10)

KaS Product recorded Mind at P. Utkala Studio with co-producer F. Kremer and engineer P. Geschlecht.

Play Loud (EP)

In September 1980, KaS Product released Play Loud, an EP with three Soyoc/Spatsz originals on Punk Records.

A. “Take Me Tonight” (3:57)

B1. “In Need” (3:10)
B2. “Malena” (2:40)

F. Kremer and KaS Product co-produced the single at July’s house with engineer Patrick Geschlecht.

KaS Product opened for Marquis de Sade on tour in 1981, after which RCA signed the duo.

Try Out

KaS Product released their debut album, Try Out, in 1982 on RCA.

The eleven originals sustain a consistent temperature — dry electronics, fuzzed guitar pressed low in the mix, and Soyoc’s vocals riding near or above the ceiling throughout.

“One of the Kind” opens at full tilt, Soyoc’s vocals straining against Spatsz’s drum machine in a way that gives the track a nervous, barely-contained energy. “Man of Time” runs on a surf-spy guitar figure and sudden synth swoops, with Soyoc’s voice ramping up and down through the verse to give the track a more unpredictable shape. “Never Come Back” and “So Young But So Cold” hold to tight, accelerated structures where the drum machine seems to push faster than the song can contain — the latter built around frosty robo-rhythms and synth squeals driven by Soyoc’s vocal intensity.

“Countdown” is a character study of mental collapse, with Soyoc’s voice cracking through raw emotion into the spoken-word section. “No Shame” moves at an easier swing. “Underground Movie” takes a sardonic approach, Soyoc shifting between voices to comic effect. “Digging in a Hole” rides unearthly synth drones. “Pussy X” closes the album on entirely different terms — a multi-character sketch with Spatsz’s most conventional synthesizer work on the record underneath.

A1. “One of the Kind” (3:25)
A2. “Man of Time” (3:22)
A3. “No Shame” (3:15)
A4. “Countdown” (3:24)
A5. “Never Come Back” (3:17)
A6. “Underground Movie” (2:38)

B1. “So Young But So Cold” (3:00)
B2. “Digging In a Hole” (3:04)
B3. “Sober” (4:28)
B4. “Breakloose” (2:58)
B5. “Pussy X” (3:31)

KaS Product co-produced Try Out with Gérard N’Guyen in August 1981 at Sunrise Studios in Switzerland, where co-engineers Etienne Conod and Robert Vogel worked in sequence on titles by Art Zoyd, Dun, Fred Frith, Grauzone, Honeymoon Killers, and Univers Zero.

RCA lifted “Pussy X” as a single backed with “Never Come Back” and issued a second single pairing “Pussy X” with “Countdown.”

By Pass

KaS Product released their second album, By Pass, in 1983 on RCA.

By Pass runs at a sharper edge than Try Out, with dissonance pushed further into the arrangements and guitar more present against the synth bed. The ten originals hold to the duo’s established economy with short forms, compressed dynamics, and Soyoc’s strident vocals.

“Loony-Bin” opens at a frantic pace, Spatsz’s drum machine locked into a fast motorik beat while spare, snarling guitar and foreboding synth drones underpin Soyoc’s vocal. The track closes on an eight-measure beatbox passage with the feel of stomping flamenco rhythm. “Seldom, Often” pushes the same relentless tempo, synth drones holding wide while Soyoc carries most of the melody. “Mingled & Tangled” pulls back toward a more coquettish, jazz-phrased register.

“Tina Town” cuts the tempo sharply — a two-chord synth drone building a sustained sense of dread and decay. “T.M.T.” drives hard on pumping synthetic rhythms. “W. Infatuation” and “Tape” step outside the album’s motorik center, with Soyoc shifting into spoken-word dramatization over cinematic backing. “Taking Shape” returns to urgent punk momentum. “Devil Fellow” draws together the album’s various threads into a single dense arrangement.

A1. “Loony-Bin” (3:43)
A2. “Seldom, Often” (3:41)
A3. “Smooth Down” (3:33)
A4. “Mingled & Tangled” (2:51)
A5. “Tina Town” (4:34)

B1. “T.M.T.” (4:08)
B2. “Devil Fellow” (3:52)
B3. “W. Infatuation” (3:04)
B4. “Taking Shape” (3:03)
B5. “Tape” (2:09)

Sessions occurred in New York, where Gérard N’Guyen co-produced the album in February 1983 at Sorcerer Sound with engineer Mario Salvatti.

RCA lifted “Loony-Bin” as a single backed with “Tina Town” and issued a 12″ maxi-single of “Loony-Bin” backed with “Sweet And Sour” and “‘Scaper.”

“Shoo Shoo (Out of Sight)”

In 1985, KaS Product released “Shoo Shoo (Out Of Sight)” as a standalone single on Disc’AZ, issued in both 7″ and 12″ formats and backed with “Ain’t So Good” — the 7″ credits the B-side as “Ain’t It So Good.”

A. “Shoo Shoo (Out Of Sight)” (3:57 / 5:16)
B. “Ain’t So Good” (4:03)

KaS Product produced both formats for Pussy Disc/Disc’AZ, published through Clouseau Musique, with pressing by MPO.

Ego Eye

KaS Product released their third album, Ego Eye, in October 1986 on Pussy disc.

Ego Eye marks a shift in texture — brass enters the electronic palette and arrangements open up compared to the tighter compression of the RCA albums. “Fever Lust” opens with a cold wave foundation pushed against a light, upbeat pulse. “Peep Freak” runs on rhythmic drive paired with atmospheric melodic passages.

A1. “Fever Lust” (3:34)
A2. “So Bad” (3:08)
A3. “Peep Freak” (3:52)
A4. “Gift Of The Gods” (3:19)
A5. “Street Haunt” (3:37)
A6. “Above” (2:19)

B1. “See For Yourself” (3:44)
B2. “Razz” (4:02)
B3. “Clown” (3:48)
B4. “Nothing In The Way” (3:40)
B5. “Until Then” (2:56)

Sessions occurred in April–May 1986 at ICP Recording Studios. Disc’AZ lifted “Peep Freak” as a single backed with “Nothing In The Way” and issued “Shoo Shoo (Out Of Sight)” as a 12″ single backed with “Ain’t So Good.”

Postlude

KaS Product disbanded in 1988. Last Call Records reissued Try Out and By Pass in 1994; both albums appeared again in 2012 on Ici, d’ailleurs, which followed with Ego Eye in 2015. In 2004, Ivan Smagghe and Marc Collin drew “So Young but So Cold” as the title track for So Young but So Cold: Underground French Music 1977–1983, a Tigersushi compilation covering the French electronic scene of the 1980s.

The duo reformed in 2005 and played the Eurockéennes de Belfort festival and La Locomotive in Paris before returning to the stage at the Souterrain festival in Nancy in 2011 and Nancy Jazz Pulsations in 2013. Spatsz died February 1, 2019. Soyoc subsequently began a new collaboration with guitarist Olivier Mellano, debuting the project live at the Transmusicales festival off in Rennes in late 2019.

Discography: