[1] Reviewing the album in the Canadian Sunday Herald, Stephen Pedersen called the quartet "a delightfully wild and wooly bunch", who are "superb masters of their instruments and intensely in tune with each other".

[2] He said they explore the percussive and rhythmic nature of the guitar, and blend noise with folk, jazz and country music to produce an "intriguing CD" of "brilliant effects".

[2] Writing in The Wire, Mike Barnes complimented Frith on the "admirable restraint" he displays in his quartet—as if he "is waiting [for] something to say"—but added that Upbeat "certainly says a great deal".

"Speedy Feety" has a "[c]ountry feel", and becomes overly sentimental in "Red Rag", which Barnes described as "a corny melody set against a gauzy, blurred backdrop".

[3] Reviewing the album in Coda magazine, James Hale said Frith, Didkovsky, Stewart and Lussier each have one thing in common: they "share a passion for exploring the sonic possibilities" of the electric guitar.