Critical
Critics' reception of the album was described by one music critic as "a combination of joy and confusion". [7] In a review for Pitchfork , critic James P. Wisdom awarded the album a score of 9.5 out of 10, commending the record for its cross-generational appeal and its identity as "exuberant, ginhouse swing without apologies". [6] Allmusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine gave the album four out of five stars and praised its humor and big band sound, although conceding that the "tongue-in-cheek" lyrics and Whalen's vocals might be "unbearable" for some. [1] He also designated the record as an "album pick" in the group's discography, and singled out "Put a Lid on It", "Hell", and "Blue Angel" as highlights. [1]
In a less favorable review, music critic Robert Christgau, writing for the Village Voice , gave the record a letter grade of "B−". Christgau remarked that the group had "written a couple of dandy songs" but also accused the group of being "not good enough to escape" nostalgia, and criticized Whalen's vocals as resembling Holliday and Betty Boop. [4]
Commercial
The album became the group's first entry on the Billboard 200 chart, on which it spent a total of 51 weeks and peaked at number 27 in June 1997. [8] Prior to its entry into the upper half of the Billboard 200, the album also peaked at number one on the Heatseekers Albums chart. [8] In May 1997, less than a year after its release, the album was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for sales in excess of 500,000 copies, and in December of that year it was certified Platinum for sales of over 1,000,000 copies. [9]
The single "Hell" also attained some success, crossing over onto mainstream radio. [10] It peaked at number 72 on the Billboard Radio Songs chart and number 13 on the Alternative Airplay chart. [8] In popular culture, "Hell" was one of the songs sung in the 2021 Lucifer episode "Bloody Celestial Karaoke Jam". [11] On Alternative radio, "Put A Lid On It" reached 35 stations as the followup track, but it did not quite make the Top 50. [12]
