While the band's style has sometimes been described as alt country, in Lytle's view it is the sentiment of country music that the band embraced rather than the musical style. In their early days, the band's lo-fi sound was compared to Pavement. The band has also been compared to Radiohead (even described as "the next Radiohead" in 2001), Weezer, The Flaming Lips and Elliott Smith. With "Sumday", the band was compared to the Electric Light Orchestra and The Alan Parsons Project.