Tronics

Operating from 1979 through 1984, the Tronics functioned chiefly as London artist Ziro Baby’s outlet for personal expression. His initial involvement came with Star Dogs, a band of youths that straddled the divide between glam outfit and street gang. After that group produced little result, Baby, then sixteen, assembled the Tronics, whose sound fused brittle punk with inward acoustic pop. Retaining full independence, he established Alien Records to issue Tronics material and self-released the singles “Favorite Girls”/“Suzie” and “Time Off”/“Goodbye.” In 1981 he issued the Shark Fucks 7" together with the band’s sole LP, Love Backed by Force. The same year yielded several cassettes, among them What’s the Hubbub Bubb, later given a CD edition by Wrench Records in 2001. Before disbanding in 1984 the Tronics also put out a self-titled mini-album and one further single. With passing years the band’s discs became prized acquisitions for punk collectors. In addition to the Wrench Records reissue, New York’s What’s Your Rupture? label restored both the Shark Fucks 7" and Love Backed by Force to circulation in 2012. After the Tronics concluded, Ziro Baby adopted the name Zarjaz and maintained a marginal presence in fringe culture through visual art. He joined Sigue Sigue Sputnik for a brief interval and kept making music while engaged in design work.