--- product_id: 25080813 title: "American Tragic" price: "₱2675" currency: PHP in_stock: true reviews_count: 4 url: https://www.desertcart.ph/products/25080813-american-tragic store_origin: PH region: Philippines --- # American Tragic **Price:** ₱2675 **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** American Tragic - **How much does it cost?** ₱2675 with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.ph](https://www.desertcart.ph/products/25080813-american-tragic) ## Best For - Customers looking for quality international products ## Why This Product - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description "[Wax Idols] is aloof and commanding, with an expertly honed sense of how far to take the tension it builds before offering relief. Listeners generally dont enjoy being messed with in such an aggressive fashion, and it says a lot about where Fortunes songwriting talents are at this point that she can pull off such a feat." Pitchfork You could say that a lot has happened since the release of Wax Idols critically well-received 2013 album, Discipline + Desire, and if youre steeped in the shorthand of music criticism go-to narratives, it would be dangerously easy to get reductive about what happened next: The bands singer-songwriter, Hether Fortune, supported the album as best she could, spent some time in 2014 as a touring player in White Lung, went through a heartbreaking divorce, and then sat down to make American Tragic the bands long-awaited third album and first for Collect Records. But thats not exactly how it went. Divorce is a part of this record, yes, but this is not an entirely sad album, Fortune explains. The whole spectrum of grief is represented here shock, pain, anger, loneliness, and then finding a way to work through all of that and not only survive, but thrive. Thats what I was going through. I was trying to save myself. Indeed, this is not only a deeply personal record, but a chiefly independent one: As a songwriter and true multi-instrumentalist, Fortune wrote and recorded everything but the drums on American Tragic a feat only bolstered by the albums compelling performances and meticulous execution, but a little known fact nonetheless. Co-produced by Fortune and Monte Vallier (Weekend, Mark Eitzel, The Soft Moon, Vaniish), the only other player on this record is drummer Rachel Travers Review: Great !! - Heather is wonderful! Review: FUN. Tragic - popy. FUN. Tragic. ## Images ![American Tragic - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/815uVV8SoZL.jpg) ![American Tragic - Image 2](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41xrQBfBWKL.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Great !! *by I***P on January 20, 2021* Heather is wonderful! ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ FUN. Tragic *by B***N on January 22, 2017* popy. FUN. Tragic. ### ⭐⭐⭐ A poppier, cleaner, more palatable Wax Idols *by L***K on October 25, 2015* People like to call Wax Idols goth, and I suspect that's mainly due to bandleader Hether Fortune's much talked about day job as a dominatrix, and the fact that they've been photographed wearing Siouxsie t-shirts. While there were some goth-ish leanings on their last album, the promising but uneven Discipline + Desire, very little on American Tragic can truly be described as goth. It's goth-lite at best, and that only applies to a few songs. And the lyrics, while generally dark, are too personal, emotionally direct, and lovelorn to be goth. They really seem to be honing in on a mid-to-late-80s "new wave/alt rock" sound that sits somewhere between the Divinyls (think "Pleasure and Pain"), Flesh For Lulu ("I Go Crazy"), "Heartbreak Beat"-era Psychedelic Furs minus the production flash and horns, a more sober Gene Loves Jezebel, a smattering of post-goth March Violets, or Xmal Deutschland when they went commercial *after* Viva. Basically, it's as if they're trying to sound like a band on the soundtrack of an 80s John Hughes film. If anything, Fortune goes for the jugular with the pop angle, with big, palatable, widescreen hooks. The arena-sized choruses to "Deborah" and "I'm Not Going," for example, sound tailor-made for large lit-cell-phone-waving audiences. "I'm Not Going", in particular, could almost be a power ballad by an 80s metal band. At any rate, the album's high point is the run of three more guitar-driven songs on side one: "Lonely You," "I'm Not Going," and "Deborah." "I'm Not Going" features a darkly romantic, tastefully spare guitar riff played with a clean, reverb-heavy, rockabilly-esque tone, like Chris Isaac on downers. The haunting track slinks and builds in tension for maximum dramatic impact. The verses to the more upbeat but still brooding "Deborah" feature another attractively spare, emotionally resonant, clean guitar melody, recalling prime 80s-era Go-Betweens or the Bunnymen. The jangly guitars and relatively stripped down arrangements give these songs room to breathe and add to the sense of poignancy. After a strong side one, however, side two is a little weak. The songs aren't bad, they're just a bit flimsy or throwaway. Save for the final track (the rocking "Seraph," the only tune that harkens back stylistically to Discipline + Desire), side two is less guitar-driven and more synth-based and aims for a more mainstream pop vibe. "Glisten", for example, would sound right at home on a Lady Gaga album. "Severely Yours" and "At Any Moment" are similarly light, almost bubblegum pop, but actually suffer from the stripped back arrangements: a few smartly placed melodic flourishes really could have really elevated these new wave-lite tracks. My feelings on American Tragic are ambivalent. I appreciate the increased melodicism, and the sound of this record is a definite improvement: where D+D was like a thin, plastic-y squall, American Tragic generally sounds fuller, lusher. AT is more consistent, too; even with the weaker tracks it's still an easier album to listen to all the way through. But I wish Fortune had taken the melodicism and the album's darker moods further. It sounds like she's trying to straddle the line between something more refined and sophisticated than previous work, and something more base that would be suitable for top 40 radio. Fortune seems to be going for bigger, but not always smarter; simpler, but not always savvy; and some of the more over-the-top pop moments come at the expense of the band's artsy edge. I love smart pop as much as any record geek, but I fear that if Fortune keeps heading in this direction her music will lose that dark edge entirely, which would be a shame. (A note about the vinyl: my copy, which wasn't purchased through Amazon, has an annoying, audible, and persistent ticking noise on both sides. Collect Records may not be getting their LPs pressed at one of the better few remaining pressing plants. Wish I'd bought the CD instead). --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.ph/products/25080813-american-tragic](https://www.desertcart.ph/products/25080813-american-tragic) --- *Product available on Desertcart Philippines* *Store origin: PH* *Last updated: 2026-05-19*