During the sessions, the pair used many of the same instruments and amplifiers used by Big Star during their heyday, including Alex Chilton's Hiwatt amps, Mellotron and Chris Bell's cherry red Gibson guitar.

[10][3][4][7] "When someone has suffered violence simply for being who they are, there's an urgency to the lyrics “Kinda tried to hide it, but I never denied it.” Cait Brennan sings these words, and everything else on her new album, Third, as if her life depended on it.

Not that she can't reveal a light touch, as when she sings, “he knows too much, I think we'll have to kill him.” If the latter is built on a bedrock of T. Rex hand claps and chugging electric guitars, mixing the lighthearted with the murderous, that just comes with the territory."

[16] LA Weekly's Jackson Truax described her as a "Renaissance woman of indie rock" and said "Third is a subversive glam-rock masterpiece...It’s a pleasure to hear a new album that wears its David Bowie, Velvet Underground, Big Star and Queen influences so boldly on its sleeve while still serving as its own original, satisfying statement.

Together with creative partner Fernando Perdomo, Brennan combines the best of ‘70s pop - Nilsson, Bowie, Todd Rundgren, Emitt Rhodes, Sparks, Raspberries, ELO - with the snap of Prince’s ‘80s funk.

With tracking laid down in only three days, the productions are full of early-take life that’s magnified by canny overdubs of guitar, mellotron and other atmospheric touches.

"[14] Spectrum Culture's Grant Lindner offered a somewhat contrasting view, praising Brennan as "a fascinating vocalist who is seemingly at war with trite lyrics and musical tropes.

She could easily carve out an evergreen niche churning out droll power pop, but on her second album Third, she expands into other genre influences and challenges herself as a lyricist to bring a sense of specificity to every bar.

Lindner praised the album's immediacy and melodic hooks, but panned the album's length, saying "Those who prize character above all else in their music will likely find Brennan compelling enough for 13 tracks, but the rest of us should hope that her relentless experimentation on Third helps her find a genre comfort zone that can work for her to create the truly great record she seems capable of producing.