Critical reception
Upon its release, Robin Denselow of The Guardian commented: "MacColl enlivened the hit parade earlier this summer with the witty "There's a Guy Works Down the Chip Shop Swears He's Elvis", but hasn't quite developed the range necessary to fill an LP. The melodies are mostly pleasant and straightforward but even more adventurous lyrics are needed. She's certain got songwriting potential." Aberdeen Press and Journal stated: "Having successfully got herself into the public gaze with her unlikely single, Kirsty sounds as if she could make a bigger name for herself with this album. There is not much original in the content, but she has an interesting delivery and sounds as if she could do great things with better material." Johnny Black of Smash Hits felt the "well-respected" musicians playing on the album ensured a "musically competent outing", but added "the melodies are so derivative that it seems Kirsty has nothing original to offer."
Simon Mares of the Reading Evening Post wrote: "It's not that her country-rock totally lacks style, it's that so many others do it better." Paul Tickell of the NME called the album "so thin it has to be built around 'There's a Guy Works Down the Chip Shop Swears He's Elvis'". He noted that the "charm and novelty soon pall" as MacColl presents only "country pastiches" and "significantly abysmal" numbers that attempt to "captur[e] the '60s". He concluded: "Against the grain of her pastiches, Kirsty reveals hints of a genuine songwriting ability, but it's not the kind of talent which can be stretched over an eclectric hotchpotch and come out winning. The same can be said about that thin voice, bouncing notes off a tinny roof; neither hot nor cold."
