We the Kings - Sunshine State of Mind

Artist: We The Kings

Album: Sunshine State of Mind

Release Date: July 5, 2011

Genre: Pop, Powerpop, Pop Punk

This will be a different kind of review!

I bought this album after getting their single “Say You Like Me” for free.  I thought the song was cute, catchy, fun, and it seemed like the rest of their album was as well.  And I admit – the 16-18 year old me would have loved this album.  I guess she started coaxing me into buying it...

I was hoping for some therapeutic content to the songs, but unfortunately, this one seems to be lacking in it.  If you’re looking for cute, catchy love songs, this may be your album.  Of course, there are a few that are somewhat risqué, but that’s not too terribly surprising given the music scene today.  In the end, even the most provocative song is still quite tame and couldn’t earn itself an explicit label.

So, my review is going to be on this: songs that have musical qualities that would work for karaoke and dance activities rather than lyric analysis.  I’m only going to skip reviewing tracks that I don’t believe would work.

This review will follow this format:

A. positive/negative?

B. content that would possibly be inappropriate for some facilities?

C. Ease of singing (range, jumps in song) and dancing review (tempo, beat easy to follow)

1. Friday is Forever

A. positive

B. very mild - “blame it on the blood red wine”, “no more crashing in my bed”

C. Jumps throughout song, not too difficult to follow.  For dancing, I think it’s good for handclaps, but otherwise could be too fast.

2. Say You Like Me

A. positive

B. again, mild - “nicotine and painted dreams”

C. There are jumps in the song and the range goes much higher in the bridge, but it’s not too high in the verses and chorus.  The verses are a reggae beat while there’s more of a straightforward rock beat in chorus.  The beat is in the song is strong and not too fast.  

3. Every Single Dollar

A. positive

B. none

C. The vocals are fast, but the range is not extreme.  There aren’t as many jumps in this song.  I don’t think this song would work well for dancing.  The beat is very punk-rock-esque, and quite fast.

4. The View From Here

A. positive

B. none

C. The vocals are slow, and there aren’t many jumps in the song.  The range stays very small until the middle of the song (~2:37) when there is a high jump on “from here”, but it is the only high note and is not repeated.  The beat is very slow, so if you’re looking for a slow dancing song for someone who really likes this band….

5. The Secret to New York

A. negative

B. none

C. There’s a lower range in the verses with very few jumps, and a higher range in the chorus (although it’s still not too high!).  I would consider the beat to be on the slower side of allegro, with a punk-pop beat.  I think it would be difficult to use for dancing.

7. Over You

A. positive

B. very, very mild- “I’ll pour you a drink”

C. There are jumps in the song, but not a very large range.  I think this song has some dance-ability to it (I started moving inadvertently to the beat while sitting here in my chair listening to the song so I could review it!).  It does have a pretty strong beat and is moderately fast.

*I do think this song could be somewhat therapeutic for someone getting over an ended relationship

That’s all I’m reviewing from this one!  I do think there are one or two other songs that could be used from the album, but they’re so similar to the other songs I’ve already reviewed here…

Another new review to come very soon!  This is not the only one this week!