 Despite being described by some and by Shelley as an attempt to sound more modern, many critics compared it to new wave music of the late 1970s and/or early 80s; Joshua Klein of "The A.V.Club" said "Modern" was "something else entirely" from their previous albums, calling its title ironic as it "essentially [picks] up where the band left off in 1981" after they split because it "sounds like it was recorded just as punk turned into new wave.