"[6] Originally scheduled for a 1998 release on Interscope Records, Freak Magnet was pulled when the band was dropped from the label.

[8] The Washington Post called the album "stuck in the Reagan decade," writing that "the Femmes still play punky hootenanny-rock with occasional potty-mouthed lyrics to assure frat-boy appeal.

wrote that the Violent Femmes "tend to sound like an average band dabbling in a goofy brand of punk, save for Gordon Gano's voice, which anyone could spot a mile away.

"[10] Paste's Andrew Lisle wrote: "With sarcastic, solid originals like 'Happiness Is' and 'Hollywood Is High', the boys try to achieve former glory on Freak Magnet, falling just short of success.

"[11] Trouser Press called it "a strong return to form," writing that "the Femmes hang their music in thick, hard-rocking sheets of sound rather than on a skeletal acoustic frame.