KingsQueens by Wayne Everett

Wayne Everett is pleased to announce the reissue of his debut solo album KingsQueens on Clerestory AV. Originally released in 2003, KingsQueens features 60’s California pop melodies, with songwriting elements that will be familiar to fans of his former band The Lassie Foundation. The album was recorded with help from friends and bandmates including Frank Lenz, Jeff Schroeder, and Eric Campuzano, and also featured contributions from the late Richard Swift.

KingsQueens will be reissued May 19, 2025, on 180-gram vinyl (in black and glacier blue variants), with companion cassingle Babalou (featuring a previously unreleased studio recording of the title track). The vinyl packaging was re-created from the original layout, and will feature a printed inner sleeve with new artwork and album lyrics. The album will also be available for the first time on streaming services.

PRESS RELEASE:

Wayne Everett, leaving the his drums behind to write and perform his own songs, presents us with his debut solo record, KingsQueens—a fifteen-year process that has seen him in some of the most important Southern California bands of their genres: The Lassie Foundation, Starflyer 59, and The Prayer Chain, among others. 

Recorded with friend and co-producer Frank Lenz (Richard Swift, Starflyer 59, The Lassie Foundation, and others) and mixed by Chris Colbert (Nathaniel Rateliff, The Walkmen, The Lassie Foundation, and others) KingsQueens features 60’s California pop melodies and arrangements supported by strings and horns, as well as background vocals reminiscent of the Temptations, the Beach Boys, and perhaps Lou Reed. While Wayne’s earnest, plaintive voice floats over music that vaguely recalls Big Star and George Harrison, KingsQueens is far from a rehash of 60’s and 70’s music. The album mixes tones from the past and present to create an overall sound that is both familiar and fresh. 

A prominent theme on the record, according to Wayne, is “hierarchies—in society, in relationships, in music, and in poker. In some ways, many songs on the album touch upon their creation and their destruction. So the title KingsQueens shoves the two words next to each other, as if they’re unique entities within the same word or same family or same status level.”

The road from abolished hierarchies to Wayne’s hope for KingsQueens is simple and egalitarian: “I hope people will turn it on, light it up, crack it open, or do whatever they do to enjoy music.”

"Kingsqueens is the best shoegaze-ish pop record in memory." - Allmusic

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