Ian Pye of "Melody Maker" stated that the group's "melodramatic aspirations" needed a voice like MacKenzie's to be able to carry them out successfully, and said, "In parts, "Sulk" is really over-produced, the stamp of perfectionists, and while there's nothing to match the commercial appeal of their two , this record has an almost timeless majesty that can only make Billy Mackenzie's rapturous grin grow wider still". Paul Morley of "NME" wrote ""Sulk" deals with everything, in its hectic, drifting way ... There is an uninterruptible mix-up of cheap mystery, vague menace, solemn farce, serious struggle, arrogant ingenuity, deep anxiety, brash irregularity, smooth endeavour ... Sometimes "Sulk" is simply enormous: and then again it is fantastically unlikely."