Editors at AllMusic Guide rated this release three out of five stars, with critic Stanton Swihart calling it a collection that "serves as proof enough that this is ground well worth treading" and a sampler that "is packed to the gills with sensational music from across the pop spectrum".
[3] Editors at AllMusic Guide rated this release three out of five stars, with critic Jason Ankeny praising the diverse roster on Parasol displayed here, writing that the label "ranks among America's most consistently interesting independent labels, continually moving beyond the company's indie pop roots to encompass an impressive breadth of sensibilities from neo-psychedelia to alternative country to synth pop".
[7] Editors at AllMusic Guide rated this release three out of five stars, with critic Richie Unterberger writing that "although there's a lot of variety, there's not much of a consistent sound or approach, other than generally falling under the umbrella of early 21st century indie pop" and characterizing the album as "pleasant, mildly quirky, guitar-oriented indie pop, often with echoes of vintage greats like the Kinks and the Beach Boys" that could be appropriate for college radio.
[8] Writing for PopMatters, Christine Di Bella opines that "for the most part, this collection lives up to Parasol's reputation for doing the time warp, with some notable exceptions", but noting that even with the weaker tracks, the compilation "still [has] a pretty good win/loss percentage".
[11] Editors at AllMusic Guide rated this release 3.5 out of five stars, with critic Richie Unterberger writing that "while it's not easy to generalize about a lengthy anthology of cuts from 20 different groups on a variety of labels", the sampler tends toward indie pop that pays homage to many 1960s and 1970s influences and speculates if "many listeners' tastes are wide enough to enjoy this as a start-to-finish experience in one gulp", but praising the "commendable level of variety".