Shake the Sheets

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	79/100[2]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[3]
Alternative Press	[4]
Blender	[5]
The Boston Phoenix	[6]
Entertainment Weekly	A[7]
NME	7/10[8]
Pitchfork	7.0/10[9]
Q	[10]
Rolling Stone	[11]
Uncut	[12]

Shake the Sheets received positive reviews from music critics. Nisha Gopalan from Entertainment Weekly wrote about the track listing, "Practically every song is a near-perfect amalgam of straight-up melodies and pogoing beats."[7] Tim Sendra of AllMusic praised the album's stripped-down approach to its messages and instrumentation and Leo for continuing to craft strong musicianship in his vocals and lyrics, concluding with, "Fiercely political without being to specific, filled with moments that will have you jumping out of your seat with excitement, Shake the Sheets is more proof that Ted Leo & the Pharmacists are the only band that matters, punk or otherwise."[3] Alec Hanley Bemis from Blender found criticism in Leo's fast-paced delivery causing his lyrics to feel hazy and lose energy after the first three tracks but praised his musical pastiche of '70s pub rock and '80s punk, along with "a half-dozen modern swing and shuffle rhythms", calling it "a pop-punk update on Springsteen".[5] Jon Caramanica of Rolling Stone commended Leo for clearing up his themes and sound while remaining a vocal presence but found the attention to politics muted.[11] Pitchfork contributor Rob Mitchum saw the record moving away from Hearts of Oak's "more aggressively percussive approach," noting the scaling back of Leo's idiosyncratic musical repertoire, the presence of backing band the Pharmacists and the political aspects of the songs being hampered by "unrepresentative cliché-driven lyrical content," but said "while disappointing, Shake the Sheets remains better than most of its current brethren in indie cryostasis."[9]