TRAGIK released the Poetic Justice album in mid-2007 via Escape Music. Drawing influence from a white range of 'melodic' bands, from THE BEATLES to STYX or JOURNEY and then to 'new' BON JOVI or HAREM SCAREM or DOKKEN, I can recall it was an above average but not that exciting CD. Yet, glad to get the American band's brand new offering, Outlaw, it's quite interesting to watch out how TRAGIK has progressed these last two years.
The band has preserved the same lineup - Phil Vincent may be known to many via his honest typhoon of solo releases the last years - and throughout the first auditions it's pretty clear TRAGIK has pulled together some more well-organized structure in the songwriting field, at least. I, again, do not cherish the drums/keyboards sound (heard kinda juvenile most of the times) but let's have in mind that in self-financed efforts it's not the production/mix that steps on as the first priority for the listener.
Music counts and let's say Outlaw has a better shape related to its predecessor. There are certain catchy melodies that stick to your mind, the coherence between calm and dynamic parts is more reliable and the moody character unveiled in between the songs does not denote anything depressing but rather stands for maturity and wisdom. The guitars parts are surely notable, with some great fills and a good cooperation with the keys parts. Phil's vocals are well-worked, he sounds confident in both his serene and vivid singing; some more variety in his tone would be greatly appreciated, though; he can convince he's got it, hence the review.
There's diversity in the music's feel; the tempos have a variety from song to song - or within a song - and the production shows both a tendency to present some fresh making while not letting more a vintage style out of the game; the dual or sing-along vocal harmonies enrich this option in my ears. Listening again and again to songs like e.g. Two Timer, On The Other Side, Just Can't Get Enough or Everything Changes I get the impression that TRAGIK still wants to present best of both worlds in Outlaw, same thing that they (semi-ineffectively?) focused on in 2007's Poetic Justice CD.
Thankfully, as pre-said, in Outlaw things roll more smoothly and - to cut a long story short - this new album has the potential to win you over if American Hard Rock music with a 'fresh' attitude (the HAREM SCAREM or 'new' DOKKEN names bump in again) is your cup of tea. To remind: this is a self-released album, so do not expect any boost in the production field, still TRAGIK clearly displays an honest character and - I think - they deserve enough attention for (not only) this.