Mike LeChevallier of Slant Magazine, comparing the album positively to Built to Spill, Pavement, and Superchunk, wrote "All three of those bands masterfully juggle creative lyrics with equally inventive music, something Cymbals Eat Guitars comes very close to achieving on Lenses Alien." In another positive review, Drowned in Sound's Simon Jay Catling wrote "With their nerve held, this is Cymbals Eat Guitars at an impressively high creative watermark still early in their career." Winston Robbins of Consequence of Sound praised the album for getting over the sophomore slump, writing "The album could have gone a bit smoother or carried a simpler, more cohesive theme, but at the end of the day, Cymbals Eat Guitars have succeeded in creating one of the year’s most surprisingly transcendental sophomore albums." NME's Tom Pinnock was less receptive to "Lenses Alien" writing "While they mainly hit a balance between shifting symphonics, subtle keys and pyroclastic guitar, sometimes – such as on 'Plainclothes', a ballad/disco/punk-funk/noise jigsaw – there’s just too much going on." However, Pinnock concluded, "But hey, layabouts, that’s called taking a risk." Ian Cohen of Pitchfork Media, in an otherwise positive review, agreed with Pinnock's sentiment, writing "The downside is how the music occasionally buckles under the weight of its own restlessness and D'Agostino’s words-- a slightly skewed ratio of visceral immediacy to cerebral satisfaction making it a slight notch below "Why There Are Mountains"." The following people contributed to "Lenses Alien:"