[2] Matt Collar of AllMusic said: "Matthew Sweet's 15th studio album and third since moving from Los Angeles to his home state of Nebraska, 2021's Catspaw finds him further digging into his anthemic power pop and tube-amp guitar wizardry.

Part of this focus comes from Sweet playing all of the instruments except for drums, which were supplied by his longtime collaborator and Velvet Crush member Ric Menck.

"[1] Writing for American Songwriter, Hal Horowitz wrote: "Sweet’s insistence on his guitar taking the spotlight starts to wear thin by about the halfway point in these dozen tunes.

"[3] Stephen Delusner of Uncut stated: "For his 15th album, the Omaha [sic - Sweet is from Lincoln] native takes over lead, along with every other instrument but drums.

Sweet emerges as an ingenious guitar player in his own right, one who has absorbed and tweaked the lessons of his celebrated collaborators.