In a 2020 interview promoting the vinyl reissue, Britt Daniel said that the songs on Soft Effects were originally intended to be b-sides for a single from Telephono.

After recording four of the five songs, the people from Matador convinced Spoon to use them for an EP instead, since Telephono hadn't performed well.

"[1] Daniel picked "Mountain to Sound" as one of Spoon's career defining songs in a 2014 article with The Guardian.

"[5] PopMatters writer Jennifer Kelly gave the reissue an 8 out of 10 in July 2006, saying that "Soft Effects represents a giant step forward and a much fuller realization of the band’s sound.

Now, you can hear all the elements that define later Spoon, the jangling stop-start guitars, the upright, new-wavish four-four strut, the smoky croon and sudden yelp of Daniel’s voice.

She said that Soft Effects felt too short, but noted "[it] also points the direction of Spoon to come – anthemic, riffy, elegant.

"[7] Mike Powell of Stylus Magazine wrote in July 2006 that "the reissuing of their first two Matador releases, 1996’s Telephono and 1997’s Soft Effects EP is probably the most formal pampering [Spoon have] had yet."