Sunshine State of Mind

This article is about the rock music album. For the country music album, see Brian Kelley (musician).

Sunshine State of Mind is the third studio album by American rock band We the Kings, released on July 5, 2011.

Sunshine State of Mind
Studio album by We the Kings
Released	July 5, 2011
Recorded	2010–2011 in New York City
Genre	Pop rock[1][2] pop[3][4]
Length	33:38
Label	S-Curve, Virgin
Producer	S*A*M & Sluggo
We the Kings chronology
Smile Kid (2009) Sunshine State of Mind (2011) Party, Fun, Love, and Radio EP (2012)
Singles from Sunshine State of Mind
"Friday Is Forever" Released: April 12, 2011 "Say You Like Me" Released: July 1, 2011

Background

While writing new material, We the Kings used piano and acoustic guitars.^[5] Travis Clark explained that he "wanted all the songs to be able to be stripped down with acoustic and vocals, and [the band] built it off that."^[6]

Release

Sunshine State of Mind was released through S-Curve Records on July 5, 2011 on iTunes and July 12 everywhere else. "Say You Like Me" was released to mainstream radio on September 13, 2011.^[7] In February and March 2012 the band went on a co-headlining tour with Mayday Parade, with support from The Downtown Fiction and Anarbor.^[8]

Reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AbsolutePunk	46%[3]
AllMusic	[1]
Alternative Press	[4]
Sputnikmusic	[2]

The album received mixed to negative reviews from music journalists. It debuted at No. 45 on the US Billboard 200 and at No. 9 on the Rock Albums chart. This is the last album to feature bass player Drew Thomsen.

Track listing

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Friday Is Forever" (lyrics: Clark, Robert Schwartzman / music: Clark, Hollander, Katz, Schwartzman)	3:05
2.	"Say You Like Me"	3:29
3.	"Every Single Dollar" (music: Clark)	2:53
4.	"The View from Here"	4:05
5.	"The Secret to New York"	3:02
6.	"Sleep with Me"	3:41
7.	"Over You"	3:27
8.	"Kiss Me Last"	2:56
9.	"Somebody to Call My Own"	3:52
10.	"You and Only You"	3:08

All lyrics are written by Travis Clark, except where noted; all music is composed by Travis Clark, Sam Hollander and Dave Katz, except where noted

iTunes/Australian CD bonus track

No.	Title	Length
11.	"Summer"	2:43

Personnel

We the Kings

• Travis Clark – lead vocals, rhythm guitar
• Hunter Thomsen – lead guitar, backing vocals
• Danny Duncan – drums
• Drew Thomsen – bass

References

1. Leahey, Andrew. "Sunshine State of Mind - We The Kings". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved July 21, 2011.
2. Davey Boy (July 10, 2011). "Review: We The Kings - Sunshine State of Mind". Sputnikmusic. Retrieved February 25, 2012.
3. Gardner, Ryan (July 6, 2011). "We The Kings - Sunshine State of Mind". AbsolutePunk. Archived from the original on July 16, 2012. Retrieved July 12, 2011.
4. Lucy, Evan (July 18, 2011). "We The Kings - Sunshine State of Mind". Alternative Press. Retrieved July 21, 2011.
5. McCummings, Zakiya (June 12, 2015). "We the Kings". Anchorage Press. Archived from the original on June 17, 2015. Retrieved September 8, 2015.
6. Duan, Crystal (March 12, 2014). "Q-and-A with Travis Clark of We The Kings". Move. Retrieved September 12, 2015.
7. "Airplay Archive: CHR". FMQB. Archived from the original on September 1, 2009. Retrieved November 2, 2016.
8. DiVincenzo, Alex (January 10, 2012). "Mayday Parade/We The Kings Tour". AbsolutePunk.net. Retrieved September 12, 2015.

External links

• Sunshine State of Mind at YouTube (streamed copy where licensed)