The evolution of We The Kings

Over the years we have seen how We The Kings has grown and changed. While the change has been slow it’s definitely one that has been noticed. The biggest change die-hard WTK fans will notice is the new approach to the style of music they are producing. 

Early years– We the kings formed in 2005 with 4 member: Travis Clark, Hunter Thomsen, Drew Thomsen and Danny Duncan. Just 4 small town boys from Bradenton, Florida with big dreams. In 2007, they released their first full length, self titled Album. It had that typical Alternative Rock sound, which is what made the fan fall in love with them. They started touring a lot during this time, and made a name for themselves.

Smile Kid– after touring for awhile they released their 2nd album, Smile Kid. This album has the same sound, still very much rock, but with a lighter feel. The years surrounding Smile Kid were very mellow years for the band, with a lot of touring and playing festivals. This was more of a time to get out there and build their fan base.

Sunshine State of Mind– 2011 was the year of big change, their bassist, Drew Thomsen, left the band. Following his departure they brought on 2 new band members: bassist Charles Trippy, and Coley O’Toole to play keyboard and rhythm guitar. This album is when we started to hear a change in sound from We The Kings. Sunshine State of Mind started to show off the more pop side of We The Kings. The album had a very light, almost beachy feel to it, this seems fitting considering the title of the album.

Somewhere, Somehow– with the release of Somewhere, Somehow, it brought a new beginning for the band. New band members, and new music. Through listening to all the albums a fan can see how, slowly, the band is integrating more of a pop, almost tech sound, to their songs. This album, like Sunshine State of Mind, had a good balance of both sounds, but this record particularly had a heavier sound than their previous one. Also, during this time they released an acoustic album of their hits, and a few new tracks, called Stripped.

Strange Love– this album in particular is where you can really see the change in style of music a lot more. Songs like “XO” and “Love Again” have a drastically different sound in comparison to songs like “Check yes, Juliet” or “Skyway Avenue” off of We The Kings. During this time, they also did their own cover of “The Story of Tonight” from the broadway musical Hamilton. So Far, had also been released June 17th, 2016. This was an album compiled of the band greatest hits “so far” in their career. For a short time lead singer Travis Clark branched off to work on a side project called Recycle Jordan. This was an EDM group that he had started, but nothing had been heard from the group since 2016.

Six– this leads us to now. On July 6th, 2018 We The Kings released their sixth album, Six. If we were to take all of the albums released from the band and put them into one, that would be Six. It has songs like “Alive” for everyone’s inner rocker, and then song like “Immortal” for a little more of a pop sound. Prior to the release of Six We The Kings released an album called Self Titled Nostalgia. This album was released just in time for the 10 year anniversary of We The Kings. It was a record that took a new spin on the songs from their self titled album.

Change is inevitable and is definitely prevalent in the music industry. It’s heartwarming to see that We The Kings can have such a drastic change in music over the last 11 years and still have such a strong fan base. The change in style was a bold move, but has been showing nothing but good things for the band.

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