The album cover includes a reproduction of Édouard Manet's "The Dead Toreador", which the band had seen on display at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.

In an interview with Cashbox magazine, Chan Poling said that the band liked the ironic juxtaposition of the album's themes of warmth and love with the coldness of an image of a man lying dead.

[2] Writing for Allmusic, music critic Vince Ripol wrote that the album "concentrates [the Suburbs'] alternative dance-rock into a single-length showcase of their strengths...

In general, Love Is the Law is harder and tighter than previous releases, and even the most intense tracks produce lingering melodies in the wake of relentless rock & roll.

The Suburbs may not have equaled the success or longevity of other Minneapolis musicians from the 1980s, but Love Is the Law holds its own against the more celebrated albums of its time.