The album was primarily written and recorded by members Clay Parton and Canaan Dove Amber, with Jason Albertini contributing drums to three tracks.

[3] On its release, Pitchfork wrote a favorable review of Stratosphere, comparing the band to Galaxie 500 and My Bloody Valentine.

[5] The Olympian's Tucker Peteril wrote that, while somewhat derivative of other bands, Stratosphere was "a joy to listen to", occupying "the outer realms of catchy minimal guitar and drum instrumentals, somewhere between space rock and slo-mo".

[6] Paul Primrose of The Rocket was similarly favorable: "This is, as the title suggests, an album about leaving predictable confines and traveling, flying and floating into new spaces".

[4] Their review compares the band to Pavement, Seely, and Sonic Youth and calls "Echo, Bravo" the "highlight of the record".