 At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 79, based on 19 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews".The album received critical acclaim from several major publications, and ranked #8 in "Pitchfork"s best albums of 2006 list, as well as a similarly high placement in the same list of the New York Times.In 2012, vocalist and guitarist Daniel Rossen reflected on its release, stating, "When we finished "Yellow House", we were so young and so excited about the first record we made as the four of us.