Rather Ripped is considered to be one of Sonic Youth's most accessible albums, featuring an abundance of concise songs dealing with melancholic topics such as adultery, sexual frustration, and infidelity.

[2] His departure affected the sound of Rather Ripped, with singer and guitarist Thurston Moore stating that the new record "is just a far more straight up rock and roll album", in contrast to the "darker, twisted, complex quality" of O'Rourke's contributions.

[3] Partially inspired by the streamlined approach taken by Blondie for their 1978 commercial breakthrough Parallel Lines,[4] Moore decided to write simpler songs "for everybody to plug into immediately.

"[3] While he conceded Parallel Lines features some "super good" songs, he was disappointed with the album's poppier style and Mike Chapman's production when it was released.

[14] The UK edition of the album includes two outtakes, "Helen Lundeberg" and "Eyeliner", which were previously released as a 7" single on the band's own label, Sonic Youth Records.

[31] The video for "Incinerate" is a performance of the band that was recorded at Le Nouveau Casino in Paris prior to their 2006 tour in support of the album, while the others are set in an apartment and repeat images of cats, roofing tiles and TV antennas.

[38] PopMatters editor Dave Heaton believed the album was a graceful and elegant way to end Sonic Youth's unique relationship with Geffen, describing it as a "cohesive story about a band seeking the best way to take the reckless, brave spirits of free jazz, punk, and experimental music, and generate them within the confines of traditional rock song structure".

[14] Similarly, Dave Simpson of The Guardian felt that the band reinvented themselves with poppier songs, calling Rather Ripped "an extraordinary state of affairs in Sonic Youth's 25th year".

[12] Gordon's vocal delivery was widely praised, with Ben Ratliff of The New York Times comparing it favorably to The Velvet Underground singer and collaborator Nico.

[39] Robert Christgau also remarked that Gordon sounds "breathlessly girlish" despite being 53 at the time, and that both she and Moore "evoke visions of dalliance, displacement, recrimination, and salvation that never become unequivocally literal".

[12] Steve Hochman of Los Angeles Times credited the album's catchy melodies for being smartly and effectively handled, commenting that "it almost makes you wonder what would have happened if Television and Peter Frampton had worked together".

[35] Tom Sinclair of Entertainment Weekly wrote that, although the band "can still knock out a noisy punk stomper when the mood strikes" like on the track "Sleepin Around", the cleaner and quieter melodies are the ones that "really rip up your emotions".

Spin editor Joe Gross criticized Rather Ripped for its lack of expansive songs, stating that the album "is about three- or four-minute songcraft—never the highlight of their résumé, even when [Gordon] lends her singular rasp".

[5] AllMusic reviewer Heather Phares remarked that the band's playing can occasionally outpace their songwriting, but nevertheless judged Rather Ripped as "a solidly good album" that "shows that Sonic Youth is still in a comfortable yet creative groove, not a rut".