The Los Angeles Times opined that "the smart, sassy savagings of losers and poseurs are a refreshing advance from grunge's gloomy self-absorption.

[citation needed] In their retrospective review, AllMusic praised the album, writing "what makes Elastica such an intoxicating record is not only the way the 16 songs speed by in 40 minutes, but that they're nearly all classics" and that "hardly any new wave band made records this consistently rocking and melodic".

[12] BBC Music wrote "As albums that fall off a genre's radar go, Elastica's eponymous debut ranks high", calling it "a neglected gem" and the "blueprint for what Britpop should sound like".

[3] Elastica hit number one on the UK Albums Chart,[20] becoming, at the time, the fastest-selling debut since Oasis' Definitely Maybe the previous year.

[26] By April 2000, sales in the UK were estimated by the band's Deceptive label at 270,000 copies.