He concluded, "Not Economically Viable is a good album, and perhaps the band's best effort yet, but suffers drastically from a first half in need of serious stitchwork and some tighter threading in the remaining portions.

"[1] Stephen Haag of PopMatters notes the despair, pity and “girl problems” present in the album.

He concludes "The album is a dozen high-octane punk songs; the Methadones do one thing and they do it well.

"[2] Stewart Mason of AllMusic compares the lyrics of the album to those of X, calling them more impressionistic.

He writes "the album completes the Methadones' slow transition from garagey punks ... into a more polished power pop outfit".