PASS THE CRACK, GUV’NOR

Now here’s some folks who just don’t give a shark fuck. Love Backed By Force [Alien Records, Bealien3], the product of Ziro Baby’s & Gaby de Vivienne’s short-lived (and final) configuration of the Tronics, should sit rightly beside the work of the Velvet Underground for its lasting influence on DIY indie rock, whether anyone knows it or not.

Tronics evloved from the Gits, a late-70s UK thrash band led by Ronnie Git, who would soon recast his already-pseudonymous persona & nom de musique in the guise of Ziro Baby. After some line-up shake ups, Baby renamed his project "Tronics", releasing his first 45, “Suzy’s Vibrator” b/w “Favorite Girls”, in 1978. After a second single, the band dissolved again, washed in a constant spin cycle of hard drugs & personal differences. Ziro Baby soldiered on, pursuing sundry eclectic musical endeavors with an ever-rotating cast of musicians until regrouping with de Vivienne. The 17-year old Baby got down to some serious biz in 1980, recording Love Backed By Force mainly by himself, with all of the nonchalant swagger of one who knows exactly how to do it himself.

Baby had already recorded the first two Tronics albums, Tronics and What’s The Hubub Bub (both of which were cassette-only, with the latter credited as helping to create the cassette-format release phenomenon of early indie rock) in the kitchen of his basement flat in Earl’s Court, surrounded by addicts & hangers-on. His m.o. for Love remained the same: thoughtful yet primal guitar parts laid out under vocals that reflected odd, impassioned ennui. By the time he got down to Love, Baby’s sound was perfected; though production value hovers at an honorably low line, there’s just enough to reward repeated listens. He croons with a love of straightforward songwriting, reflecting 50s pop in structure and sound, often contrasted with the foil of de Vivienne's naive/knowing singalong harmonies. The duo sound like they're taking a walk through an increasingly weird and dark forest, Baby always finding his way home by dropping breadcrumbs of delicious synths and lo-fi freakouts.

Although the UK punk label Wrench has reissued What’s The Hubub Bub on CD, the debut is still out-of-print, as are all the singles & this gleaming gem. The live bonus tracks that Wrench dug up to supplement Hubub sound great, & the disc is highly recommended not only to show the different iterations that Ziro Baby used to hone his musical image, but also because it's fan-fuckin-tastic. So go buy it!

After Tronics petered out in 1984, our erstwhile DIY demigod changed his name to Zarjaz, a word lifted from the popular British comic 2000 A.D. that translates, naturally, as “excellent.” Expressing his thanks for Baby's impact, Alan McGee's Creation Records released a 45, "One Charming Nite" b/w "My Baby Owns A Fallout Zone", with the band called “Les Zarjaz.” As a sad testament to what people do & don’t know, the Tronics MySpace page has woefully few visitors. Elsewhere, Freakapuss purports to be Zarjaz’s latest foray back out of the ether, but when you go there, all you get is some drone & a weird image. Sounds about right.

Zarjaz's Creation single is described by one reviewer as “silly numbers done in mediaeval style... it is not surprising the label turned down the chance to release a follow-up single.” Sure, a few tunes do have this kind of quality, like “Ice Flod Festival” and “Min Dama”, but in the context of a whole record it works charms like an old housewife remedy. Fear no critic: the stylistic diversity & sheer psychic cycle that Love Backed By Force gives the listener is an unrivalled joy.