A Kiss Before You Go

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	66/100[4]
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[5]
BBC Music	(favorable)[6]
The Independent	[7]
MusicOHM	[8]

A Kiss Before You Go received generally positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 66, based on four reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews".[4] Jon O'Brien of Allmusic wrote "it's difficult not to be enamored by [the album's] inventiveness and inherent avant-garde charm."[5] BBC Music's Mischa Pearlman called the album "peculiar and unconventional" because it "constantly shape-shifts and surprises, but does so with a graceful, effortless ease that feels incredibly natural and utterly delightful".[6] In a review for The Independent, Hugh Montgomery said its "oompah brass [and] jaunty jigs" were "best in small doses." He also described A Kiss Before You Go as "exhilarating and nauseous".[7] MusicOHM reviewer Ben Weisz wrote that Katzenjammer's "latest effort is often raucous, occasionally majestic and close to brilliance."[8]

In Norway, A Kiss Before You Go debuted at number eight on the albums chart. The following week it reached its peak position of number six.[9] The album reached number seven in Germany,[10] where it sold 100,000 copies and was certified gold.[11][12]

A Kiss Before You Go debuted at number thirty-three in Switzerland. It remained on the chart for three weeks.[13] The album also charted in the top fifty in Austria and the Netherlands.[14][15] In Belgium, it peaked at number one hundred and thirty-one.[16]