American Tragic by Wax Idols is the latest evolution in the band’s sound. And there’s so much to love here in the band's step forward: production, mixing, drumming, lyrics, song titles, even the sequencing is perfect. This is the Wax Idols experience at a new high. Shinier, more piercing, and even more engaging. An absolute gem of a pop record that’s high among the year’s best.
While the album looks short at nine songs, it’s a slow burn
of a musical journey that explores the dreams and ambitions of being one’s own
distinct self. As statements of intent, there are song titles bearing this out:
"I’m Not Going", "Goodbye Baby", and "Severely Yours" which sounds like an especially
acerbic (and delicious) closing to a break-up letter. So with this new album, Wax Idols is here
to stay. Detractors can’t hold her back or make a dent in that resolve to make
her own way. While Discipline + Desire was in parts a record of drowning, struggling, and
persevering, American Tragic is what happens when you finally come to the shore
and stagger forward. Coming to shore like Nancy in The Craft, let me add.
While "A Violent Transgression" starts it all off ominously like its
predecessor but with a smoother malevolence, it isn’t until the next song "Lonely
You" that the album's sonic change becomes apparent and announces the band’s evolution. It’s
obvious why this is a single - with an equally stylish and memorable music video starring Wax Idols mastermind Hether Fortune! Endlessly listenable and incredibly catchy, it’s
everything that one could love about Wax Idols. It’s a perfect song, but those
haunted vocals higher in the mix really make it stand out in the band’s
catalog a Wax Idols anthem. To remind us
of how she got to shore is "I’m Not Going" which is a beautiful hymn to
persevering. It’s in "Deborah" that we have the album’s highlight, however. The guitar
and drums create some wonderful tension which the singing hardly alleviates - only
to make it all explode in the choruses. Harder drums, cavernous guitar, and
some sparse Cure-like synth, this exorcism in song is a knock out. I would take a
guess that the Deborah in question is Deborah Curtis speaking to her late
husband. Maybe I’m wrong on that interpretation – if not it’s about time
someone broached the subject so hats off to Wax Idols – but regardless it’s a
great song about moving past those who’ve hurt or betrayed us. "Goodbye Baby" coming
off the heels of "Deborah" makes explicit the need to make a break with another
person. Another great song it also features some especially expressive singing.
What really becomes wonderfully obvious in the second half of American Tragic is
the mixing. The vocals sound better than usual and reveal a wonderful swagger
to the singing. The intense brooding of Discipline + Desire now reinforced with
an infectious swagger is a combination that helps American Tragic (and Wax
Idols) reach a new level aesthetically. "At Any Moment" – great solo and keys by
the way – makes this especially clear. But to hear the difference compare Discipline
+ Desire closer "Stay In" to "Seraph". While the yearning and frustration that
helps make "Stay In" such a perfect song are present, the vocals are curiously
buried somewhat as if those emotions should haunt rather than confront. An
aesthetic tactic that does work let me add, but in "Seraph" it all springs to
life from the very beginning. And with a bit of Cult-like attitude in that
opening guitar! All to great effect as the album closer is a powerful reclamation
of one’s self and a perfect summation of American Tragic. I’m not nothing,
indeed. May the ambitions of Wax Idols burn forever.
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