Conversely, Robert Christgau wrote that "Studio rats being studio rats, the lyrics aren't as deep as Andy and Colin think they are, but at least irrelevant doesn't equal obscure, humorless, or lachrymose." The "Chicago Tribune"s Greg Kot warned that the album could be "perhaps too radical a departure" for veteran fans. "The Daily Telegraph"s Alexis Petridis commented that while it is a "minor quibble", the album's "worst excess" may be its "whimsy". "NME"s Jim Wirth wrote that even though Partridge and Moulding have a "nasty habit of hammering really hard on the twee pedal in moments of boredom, there's still enough of that psychedelic bumpkin magic to make this worth celebrating."