Formed in Port Antonio in the early 1950s, the Jolly Boys spent decades performing in hotels and were stalwarts of the city's tourist entertainment, having also worked with development organisations in the area.

[5][6] American singer-songwriter and producer Jules Shear, known for writing hits for Cyndi Lauper, Alison Moyet and the Bangles,[4] holidayed at the Trident Hotel on the coast of Port Antonio in 1989, where he discovered the group performing.

[12] As explained by author Daniel T. Neely, the album's liner notes characterise the music as combing syncopated melodies, elements of reggae and calypso, African-style rhythms, Latin drums and touches of British sea chanties, creating a style of mento that mixes elements from the genre's past with contemporary sounds, thus breaking with the mento tradition on the Jamaican north coast.

He added that the resonant bongos and "coolly plucked banjo" cushion Swymmer's "laidback, reggae-tinged vocals", with the acoustic guitar and rhumba box being used for enhancement.

"[16] The Jolly Boys toured Europe following the album's release,[17] and played the Vista lobby in New York City as part of music industry event MM89.

[18] In the United States, the band found favour with college radio, who enjoyed the "acoustic island novelty" of their music, which led to Rykodisc picking up First Warning for wider distribution.

Adding that they were released "as the world music phenomenon was cresting", he considered the marketing emphasis on the term 'mento' to be "an indigenizing move, one that authenticated the encounter between consumers and Jamaican music's 'real' roots and influenced the way people from abroad got to know them", and felt that the Jolly Boys benefitted from becoming known as a mento (rather than calyso) group as it helped their relationship with the Jamaican Tourist Board, who helped facilitate their international publicity trips, and gave them wider international exposure than other mento bands.

[6][8][22] David Wild of The News and Observer wrote that the album captures the Jolly Boys' "laidback island charm", and provided a fine reminder that "there was beautiful music being made in Jamaica well before Bob Marley and the Wailers found their rastaman vibration."

"[23] Paul Willistein of The Morning Call reviewed the album alongside the Jonathan Demme-compiled Konbit: Burning Rhythms of Haiti, describing them as "interesting world-beat offerings from two unlikely musical anthropologists".

He noted the album's relaxed mento style, using Harry Belfatone's "Day-O (The Banana Boat Song)" as a point of reference, and added: "It's kind of touristy, 'Yellow Bird' beach cabana music, but sprightly so."

"[3] The authors of The Rough Guide to Jamaica (2003) highly recommend the album and its follow-up Sunshine 'n' Water, writing: "Sunny and lewd, this is classic good time mento from a band who have been playing it for decades.