"Credit Sarah Shook & The Disarmers for avoiding the usual case of first time jitters. While Sidelong marks the band's debut, Shook's defiant attitude makes it clear that she's not necessarily intimidated by the fact that she's a freshman competing for attention with many artists who are far more familiar ... Still, Shook is a peculiar kind of renegade, and while that may appear to be quite a contradiction, the fact that the music sticks to a well worn template-rootsy, rocking, upbeat shuffles done double time to accompany the sounds of barroom pomposity-suggests she's faithful to the kind of evergreen template most heartland heroes tend to adhere to".