Exclusive Song Premiere: ‘You Won’t Get This Joke At All,’ First Rate People

“You Won’t Get This Joke At All” is one of those songs where halfway through you realize you’re grinning and bobbing your head—but you don’t really know why. Toronto band First Rate People draws influences from pop, electronic music, and R&B—not such an unusual combo these days, but the result, coupled with tongue-in-cheek lyrics, might catch you altogether by surprise.

Part of the track’s appeal stems from an artful deployment of the appealing fake-out. A bombastic electropop intro sets up what sounds like a Passion Pit song—until, suddenly, all that production disappears, leaving just a sweet, folksy female vocal track and an acoustic guitar. We don’t want to spoil the surprise, but by a minute and a half in, both elements are perfectly synced into a playful, poppy track that works as more than just an “I like you” song.

Its lyrics are at times a little baffling—but for the most part, with lines like, “There are streets and there are signs / There are worst and better times / But across these gender lines / I need you,” the band makes itself understood without hitting you over the head with sentimentality. Ultimately, we think, First Rate People is inviting us in on the joke.

FOR MORE ON FIRST RATE PEOPLE, VISIT THE BAND’S WEBSITE.