[9] AllMusic's Marcy Donelson calls the album "typically low-key and rustic in nature, with touches of (mostly) atmospheric keyboards and electronics" but "further distinguished by the use of brief instrumentals that make up about one-third of its extensive track list".

Opener "St. Bonaventure" places "[lead vocalist Dan] Wriggins' craggy, conversational delivery ... over lap steel, sparse guitars, simple bass and drums, and part-time vocal harmonies" which "sets the tone for much of a weary group of songs in the drudgery of the everyday, although it never quite stagnates."

On the other hand, "lusher", "crunchier" "Ryde" "adopts the elemental percussion and minor intervals of a work song until it breaks open into an organ- and strings-accompanied version of heartland rock."

Despite other diversions, such as the "rare extended-chord exploration" on "Love's" and "Kum & Go"'s incorporation of "Southwestern Europe-style guitar and accordion", by the album's end "it has never quite abandoned its back-porch feel or relentlessly existential point of view, closing on the words 'Down here in the greasy mess/Hoping for the best.

'"[1] The Arts Desk's Kieron Tyler says that on Love the Stranger, the band "deal in an unhurried Americana which is never far from familiar touchstones", such as "Mr. Chill" which contains "hints of the 1970 Gene Clark song "One in a Hundred" and "Green on Red-esque "Ryde" which "is as strident as it gets."