"Rolling Stone" Gavin Edwards found the band to be "peelthe scab off endless varieties of pain" with their lyrics, tackling "heartbreak[, ... watching a friend die[, ... and] even guilt over genocide". He noted that when the band's guitarwork becomes "slow and subdued, it's because the band is preparing to unleash a withering assault". AllMusic reviewer Kurt Morris wrote that while Thursday was "generating intelligent music", they do their "best to skirt the line of emo-pop without being unexciting or blasé". He said Rickly's vocals were "smooth yet not immature, strong while not being overbearing". "Pitchfork" contributor Eric Carr said that "after spending some quality time" with the album, he referred to it "as simply 'shit'. [...] Thursday does a few things right, but all in all, this could have been a much better album." Todd Burns of "Stylus Magazine" wrote that sections of tracks "exhibit obvious skill and technical proficiency, but are quickly ruined by Rickly's vocals or other elements that intrude on the small moments of interest". He says it was overall "a solid second effort for a band in this genre, but money would be best spent" on other albums.