First Rate People
Everest
Reviewed by: Stephen Krock
Nothing like a band that is good and knows it. And First Rate People simply must know they’re good because a) look at their band name and b) they have ears. Drawing inspiration from pop, electronica, and R&B, Toronto-based First Rate People bring an expansive repertoire over the Canadian border with Everest. Maybe not expansive in quantity, at a modest, but respectable 10 tracks, but in quality that stretches across genre. They use synth to its maximum capabilities, creating sounds not often heard from any other band. They take advantage of their members’ diverse vocals. There are horns, banjos, thumpa thumpa dance beats, and more.
“You Won’t Get This Joke At All” and “The Sweet Hereafter” are great examples of how First Rate People can make the illogical make perfect sense. With their verses sporting soft, easy vocals and then jumpstarting the song with the chorus’ infectious backbeat and melange of instrumentation. They also know when to slow things down completely, in the gently flowing “Three Ordinary Words” and they can even ditch the technology in favor of good ol’ fashioned strings and drums, as in “Sleeptalk.”
First Rate People are.. well… first rate people. We are lucky to have them.
Rating: Bad-Ass
