Der Alte
"PopMatters" wrote that the band "turn the volume down, break out the wooden instruments and craft haunting, bone-clinking songs about mortality." "Spin" wrote that the Mekons are "at their red-eyed best here, skirting the edges of chaos on ragged-but-right tunes like the harmonica-fueled tall tale 'The Old Fox' and the fractured reggae shuffle 'Cockermouth.'” "Exclaim!" called "Natural" "a stirring folk punk record that recalls the organic eclecticism of the Clash's "Sandinista!""