[17] The New York Times stated that the album "ambles through stereo-warped slide-guitar twangs and hall-of-mirrors funk as Tim Rutili contemplates apocalypse without raising his voice.

"[22] The Chicago Tribune praised the "electronic experimentation" and "richly atmospheric tone poems"; the paper later listed Heron King Blues as the best local indie album of 2004.

"[25] The Observer concluded that "the rolling, often improvised sections recall at times the calmer passages of Captain Beefheart, but boast a spirit all their own.

"[26] The Toronto Star called the title track "a chugging, largely instrumental entry that sounds like a jam session involving Jeff Beck and an ensemble of new music gurus.

"[27] The Sydney Morning Herald noted that Califone "share a space with the likes of Tom Waits in sounding both banged-up and spacious at once, arriving at an uneasy but magnetic beauty the way they shape their sonic clutter.