In an interview with Dutch music website KindaMuzik, lead guitarist Boff Whalley reflected that the band's previous album, Readymades (2002), was "a real studio record", with calm songs that didn't adapt well to live performances.

Nutter remarked in a 2004 interview that "we can probably expect half the things – deeply personal possessions and defining historical items - that were taken from the museum to eventually end up on ebay for £1.50.

[10] Critic Don Pflaster, writing for Impact Press, called the album "an exercise in political hipness", commending the songs' construction, "lyrical bravery", and "head-bobbin' fun".

[11] American critic Robert Christgau gave the album a two-star honorable mention, denoting a "likable effort consumers attuned to its overriding aesthetic or individual vision may well enjoy",[12] and named "When Fine Society Sits Down to Dine" and "On eBay" as highlights.

[13] Playlouder ranked Un at number 42 on its list of the best albums of 2004, praising the record's combination of Spanish, Argentinian, and Cuban music with "their English sense of righteous enjoyment while politicising".