You and Your Sister (album)

The album's songs were written by Dale Lawrence and Robert Ray.[3][4] Ray, based in Florida, and Lawrence, based in Indiana, sent songs through the mail.[5] Aside from a few tracks recorded in Indiana, the majority of the album was made at Ray's Gainesville, Florida, home studio.[6] You and Your Sister was coproduced by Ray and Walter Salas-Humara.[7]

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[8]
Chicago Tribune	[9]
Robert Christgau	B+[10]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[1]
MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide	[11]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[12]
Spin Alternative Record Guide	9/10[13]

Robert Christgau wrote: "These guys make much more than you expect out of what first sounds like almost nothing--just tuneful enough to warrant play two, their mild jangle gains sweetness and kick as your faith increases."[10] The Chicago Tribune thought that "all of it—even the rhythmically powerful songs—is somehow quiet; it`s the dreamy, heart-tugging stuff that drifts in from another room late at night."[9] Greil Marcus, in The Village Voice, called the songs "very '50s in their casualness, present-day in their insistence on doubt."[14]

AllMusic wrote that "a dozen near-perfect roots pop tunes ... address simple concerns, like driving and changing the world all around, to a steady four-four beat that just about accomplishes that latter feat with only the occasional syncopated accent."[8] The New Yorker thought that "the sound in general was what you’d call 'organic'—you could basically hear the guitars being strummed, the drums occasionally snapped, the almost-resigned naturalness of the lead singer’s voice, the plaintiveness of the melodies."[15]