From its bright-yellow packaging to the summery pop/rock songs within, Sunshine State of Mind is a tribute to We the Kings’ home state, sort of like the Floridian equivalent of the Academy Is’ Fast Times at Barrington High.
“Say You Like Me” flirts with reggae rhythms, “Every Single Dollar” puts a Warped Tour spin on 1950s rock & roll, and “Friday Is Forever” barrels forward with a sunny, epic sweep, its melody elevated by vocal harmonies and overdubbed strings.
The lyrics fall into the same prepackaged categories as previous albums -- either the girl’s leaving the boy or the boy’s leaving the girl, both of which are described with the sort of literary semi-prowess you’d find in a high-school lit mag -- and they’re filled with plenty of wordless syllables (whoa, oh, oooh being the most frequent) to maximize their singalong potential.
The ballads don’t carry nearly as much heft as the faster songs, even with the added benefit of S*A*M & Sluggo’s high-sheen production, but We the Kings have never been concerned with heft anyway.
Sunshine State of Mind is a lightweight, breezy album, with just enough melodic mass to keep its songs from floating out of listeners’ heads and into the ether.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Friday Is ForeverTravis Clark, Sam Hollander, Dave Hotz, Robert Schwartzman | We the Kings | Play | 03:04 | 7 MB | 22 MB |
| 2 | Say You Like MeTravis Clark, Sam Hollander, Dave Hotz | We the Kings | Play | 03:30 | 8 MB | 24 MB |
| 3 | Every Single DollarTravis Clark | We the Kings | Play | 02:53 | 7 MB | 21 MB |
| 4 | The View from HereTravis Clark, Sam Hollander, Dave Hotz | We the Kings | Play | 04:05 | 9 MB | 26 MB |
| 5 | The Secret to New YorkTravis Clark, Sam Hollander, Dave Hotz | We the Kings | Play | 03:02 | 7 MB | 21 MB |
| 6 | Sleep with MeTravis Clark, Sam Hollander, Dave Hotz | We the Kings | Play | 03:41 | 8 MB | 27 MB |
| 7 | Over YouTravis Clark, Sam Hollander, Dave Hotz | We the Kings | Play | 03:27 | 8 MB | 25 MB |
| 8 | Kiss Me LastTravis Clark, Sam Hollander, Dave Hotz | We the Kings | Play | 02:56 | 7 MB | 21 MB |
| 9 | Somebody to Call My OwnTravis Clark, Sam Hollander, Dave Hotz | We the Kings | Play | 03:52 | 9 MB | 27 MB |
| 10 | You and Only YouTravis Clark, Sam Hollander, Dave Hotz | We the Kings | Play | 03:08 | 7 MB | 21 MB |
| 33 mins | 81 MB | |||||
| 33 mins | 239 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Howie Beno | Engineer |
| 2 | Travis Clark | Composer, Group Member, Guitar, Programming, Vocals |
| 3 | Bret Disend | Management |
| 4 | Danny Duncan | Drums, Group Member |
| 5 | Josh Edmondson | String Arrangements |
| 6 | Mark Evitts | Strings |
| 7 | Matt Galle | Booking |
| 8 | Chris Gehringer | Mastering |
| 9 | Sean Gould | Engineer, Mixing |
| 10 | Femio Hernández | Assistant |
| 11 | Sam Hollander | Composer, Programming |
| 12 | Dave Hotz | Composer, Programming |
| 13 | Pamela Littky | Photography |
| 14 | Tom Lord-Alge | Mixing |
| 15 | Mike Marquis | Booking |
| 16 | Grant Michaels | Keyboards, Programming |
| 17 | Brent Mulligan | Management |
| 18 | Mark Ngui | Booking |
| 19 | Todd Russell | Art Direction, Design |
| 20 | S*A*M | Producer |
| 21 | Robert Schwartzman | Composer, Engineer |
| 22 | Sluggo | Producer |
| 23 | Drew Thomsen | Bass, Group Member |
| 24 | Hunter Thomsen | Group Member, Guitar, Vocals |
| 25 | We the Kings | Primary Artist |
| 26 | Steve Yegelwel | A&R |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |