Track Listing

1. 368
2. Hocus Pocus
3. Sticks `n' Stones
4. The Man's Machine
5. Emily's Heart
6. Chaka Demus
7. Spider's Web
8. Castro Dies
9. Earth, Wind & Fire
10. British Intelligence
11. Jilly

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #171 in Music
• Released on: 2009-09-07
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .19 pounds

Amazon.co.uk Review
One of the year’s most eagerly awaited albums, Kings and Queens is as convincing as a follow-up gets these days, as Jamie Treays and his musical collaborator Ben ‘Bones’ Coupland expand on 2007’s acclaimed Panic Prevention without any obvious concessions. Playing virtually every instrument, the pair may not sound quite like a band, but they sure sound human. The opening "368" defies easy categorisation, perhaps capturing some of the feel of MIA’s Clash-sampling "Paper Planes" while "Hocus Pocus", effectively the title track, is as unfocussed and entertaining as a messy evening out. The Clash are an influence throughout but it’s the underrated Combat Rock era, where their influences stretched beyond America to encompass the world, that leaves a mark. Kings and Queens is very much a London record for all that, but these days the whole world makes up the capital, and plenty of local types turn up here. "Sticks’n’Stones" even rhymes ‘shooting gallery’ with ‘Jeremy’, in possibly the most middle-class drug reference ever made, while "Emily’s Heart" is as weary and lovely as the Lemonheads’ classic "My Drug Buddy". The cutely titled "Chaka Demus" is witty and cheerful (‘there’s an Englishman in every coward’, declares Treays), the warped folk of "Spider’s Web" steamrollers the concept of musical authenticity, while "Castro Dies", with distinctly grimy keyboard stabs lifting the chorus, resists cliche. Stranger still "Earth Wind and Fire" welds an urban dance beat to a country-rock stadium chorus, with unexpected success. Tellingly though the simple, affecting "Jilly Armeen" that closes the album, with whistling and fingerpicking, is an instant fan favourite. As pop savvy as Lily Allen and as diverting as Mike Skinner at his sharpest, Kings and Queens is as prime as any British pop in 2009. --Steve Jelbert

CD Description
'Kings And Queens' is the second album from Jamie T and comes some two and a half years after his Mercury Music Prize nominated debut 'Panic Prevention'. Not one to be pigeonholed, Treays originally went in a folk direction before scrapping the idea for "being too boring" and opting instead for a collection of songs that takes influence from the whole musical spectrum. The lyrical tales of messy nights in London andthe state of British society are still there, but this timeare backed by a more focused mix of indie, punk, ska and hip hop.

Customer Reviews

Viva Jamie !!
Now here's a very talented young man to be sure.
Jamie T. (nee Treays) second album 'Kings and Queens'
is, from top to tail, an entertaining and highly
original body of work.

The 11 songs in this new collection build on the strong
foundations laid down in his 2007 debut 'Panic Prevention'.
There is considerably greater maturity in both writing and
production but his raw energy and wit are undiminished.

Sure there's a pinch of this and peck of that in evidence
but Mr T wears his influences and musical loves lightly.

'368' is a powerful opening track.
Dark, disconcerting and electrifying.

'Sticks 'n' Stones' is alone worth the price of the album.
A raucous, driving, pogo-inducing blast of a performance.
Full of hoots and whoops and blistering conviction.
An absolute joy in every way !!

His collaboration with Mr Coupland has resulted in music
of truly exhilarating complexity and imagination.

The calamitous chorus and vigorous vocal delivery of
'The Man's Machine' is a rousing and affecting anthem.

'Emily's Heart' is a stripped down, powerful ballad with a
timelessly convincing quality conveying brutally sculpted emotion.

The finger-picking hokey charm of 'Spider's Web' is funny and smart.
This lad delivers more words per square inch than The Oxford English
Dictionary and Roget's Thesaurus combined.

'Earth, Wind & Fire' is a surreal highlight.
Disjointed, unpredictable but strangely, wonderfully coherent.

Closing track 'Jilly Armeen' is a crazy little masterpiece.
Eccentrically English yet delightfully unconventional.

A riveting and mind-bending achievement.

Essential.

As good, if not better
Bought this on the day of release after thoroughly enjoying his debut album Panic Prevention. This album is as good if not better than his debut. The upbeat melodies and genius lyrics work perfectly well to create an album that in my opinion gets you in a good mood and is happy, but underneath the upbeat are the lyrics which need to be heard for Jamie T to be appreciated. Its not without a couple of surprising songs either, which seem to come out of nowhere, which makes them even more so pleasant. Since buying I have hardly stopped listening to it, just so I can hear the lyrics again and properly.
I highly recommend this album if you enjoyed his first, or just fancy listening to something happy and meaningful.

Love it!
I bought this after listening to Jamie T do his thing in the live lounge. To be honest I was only interested in Chaka Demus and wasn't really expecting much from the rest of the album. How wrong I was. This whole album is fantastic, I am so pleased I went for the whole album and not a single download. Kings & Queens has earned it's royal place as one of my favorite albums bought this year.