Critical reception The album has had positive reviews. Jamie Fullerton of
NME said, "The Drums have proved... there's still a hurricane of heartsore life in guitar pop." It also highlighted "Book of Stories," "Down by the Water" and "Skippin' Town" as particularly good tracks.
Q gave the album 4 stars, saying that "The Drums provide its steadiest beat in years" when referring to the album's impact on the indie music genre. Andy Gill of
The Independent praised the band's new wave-inspired musicianship and Pierce's vocal performance but was wary of their "brittle artifice" and "disingenuous innocence" throughout the track listing, concluding that "they probably needn't worry about coming up with enough material for That Difficult Second Album; but next time, they might try polishing the songs a bit more."
The Guardians Dorian Lynskey admired the band for attempting to recapture the innocence of 80s indie music but criticized their musical charm for being spread thin and coming across as a formulaic imitation, concluding that "the Drums confuse sincerity with banality, and sweetness with sap, and end up recalling a less flattering label from alternative music's faltering adolescence:
indie schmindie." Jon Dolan of
Rolling Stone commended the band's concept of post-
Ian Curtis New Order making
Beach Boys songs, highlighting "Best Friend" for bringing "genuine gloom" to the proceedings, but felt "the forlorn-bubblegum formula feels vapid stretched over an album." ==Singles==