"Recorded with Barry Phipps (ex-Coctails), String of Bees is so gorgeous it's almost toxic, with layers of trilling acoustic guitar and strings shimmering around Mark Janka's breathy, drony singing. The 11 very slow tracks slide into each other like the sort of laconically passing days after which you reemerge and friends ask, "Hey, what's up?" and you honestly cannot think of a goddamn thing that is up."
Chicago Reader

"It's the kind of music you want to paper your apartment with, etching wistful moods and expansive backdrops from floor to ceiling. Playing String of Bees on repeat is a good start, but still its songs cry out for more. It's not mere hyperbole to state that, on their sophomore effort, Lesser Birds of Paradise have captured something simply, gorgeously epic -- sunlight at 6:00 p.m. on a spring day, let's say -- and committed it to song....It's always an exhilarating experience to discover that first favorite album of the year -- to wonder whether these songs will retain their impressiveness through December. String of Bees stands a good chance of doing just that. At the very least, given its poignant wistfulness and gorgeous melodies, Lesser Birds have created the perfect soundtrack for spring's hastening sunlight."
Splendid

"On the Lesser Birds' third album, a musical saw bends eerie notes into a pretty warble, the guitars are rhythmic and bold, and accordions, dulcimers, and tape manipulations don't sound like gimmicks or dramatic attention grabbers but like naturally occurring variations in the landscape....Like the Shins or Fruit Bats, Lesser Birds are a textural compound little concerned with experimentation for its own sake, but absolute and organic in their honesty."
Seattle Weekly

"This album is like a nap in a warm blanket...Various Americana acoustics, along with a smattering of musical saw, harmonica, and dulcimer create an atmosphere that's... breathtakingly overdue and most certainly welcome. these tracks are simply brilliant. With many references to pop legends of the recent past, and more importantly, several memorable melodies, Lesser Birds Of Paradise come out of left field to earn my highest recommendation."
Now Wave

"Warm and heartfelt but smart and challenging, String of Bees rewards multiple listens, as subtle layers of manipulated sound reveal themselves from behind the acoustic foreground and lyrics take unexpected turns. It'll take just one listen, however, for you to wonder why you've never heard of Lesser Birds of Paradise before. There won't be many better albums this year."
Pop Matters

Press on It Isn't The Fall
"Laid back porch pop, The Lesser Birds of Paradise deliver a simple, calm collection of beautiful songs on It Isn't The Fall. It is a good natured, honest six songs that transcend indie pop into a light, nurturing spell that swims around you with soothing sounds to ease your pain as you sink into the songs and let go of your tension."
In Music We Trust

"With their twisted narratives, laid-back cowpunk strums, and naive psychedelia, this EP marks a broadening and a sharpening of The Lesser Birds of Paradise's musical register, and sees them reclaiming their position as one of the Ūnest contemporary folk bands around."
Ink 19

"More Ūne tunage for people with artfully dorky glasses and a taste for dream indie-rock. Sometimes twangy and always crisp and ringing, Chicago's Lesser Birds of Paradise balance themselves between the slow-drone school of alt-country (think Jay Farrar) and a more prog-oriented sound...Need a little light and lightness in your life? This gauzy bird song is the soundtrack you've been searching for."
The Isthmus (Madison, WI)

"The Lesser Birds' music is a take on mellow, lightly-country pop, quite similar to The Sixth Great Lake and (therefore also) The Ladybug Transistor, that focuses on the glimmer of hope (as well as the absence thereof) in an otherwise sad world."
FakeJazz

"Another one of those albums that makes me say, "K-flow, why can't I get their full-length?" And the answer is, "Because, patience is a virtue." This is one of the best blends of rootsy folkish jams with acoustic indie rock. Put in some authentic mountain music instruments with some organ and other orchestrational instruments and you got it made. Slow melodic pretty jams for the perfect weather day. Geez, good jams that make me antsy about a new record!"
Invisible Youth

"six songs of slightly skewed indie pop and twangy folk. Fans of The Mendoza Line's bleary-eyed pop will find plenty of food for thought on this record. Blending instruments as diverse as theremin, baritone guitar, ukulele, vibes and electric slide guitar with a steady, down-tempo backbeat, Lesser Birds of Paradise strike a chord not quite alt-country, but almost. Poignant lyrics paint characterizations of lonely distressed people and keep the mood generally introspective."
Champaign Urbana Cityview

Press on A Suitable Frame
"Any day now, the skies are going to go gray and clouds and fog will obscure just about everything. The warm summer sun will be a distant memory. You'll begin to believe that you dreamed the whole thing. Come fall, nothing will blanket your bleak heart like this Chicago band's fine debut album. A Suitable Frame is familiar enough...to be wholeheartedly invited in, and beguiling and mysterious enough that you will undoubtedly ask it to stay. The warm echo of notes expertly picked on electric guitar, lyrics that demand attention, stories that incite introspection, accordion noise, the singing saw; these can be your companions as the days become shorter."
Seattle Weekly

"Soothing, organ-drenched indie-pop, The Lesser Birds of Paradise deliver a warm, inviting record that recalls the intimacy of the best singer-songwriter material while capturing the power and intensity of a full band. Less is more and you can say a lot with silence, two things The Lesser Birds of Paradise prove on A Suitable Frame, a rock-solid indie pop album from start to finish. I'll give it an A-."
In Music We Trust

"a pleasant, sleepy record of subtle beauty."
Synthesis

"this debut shows that the Lesser Birds of Paradise can already lay claim to the kind of jaw-dropping musical talent most bands never come close to achieving. The songs are a pleasantly lumpy mash of folk sensibility, slacker pop and everything that's soft and squishy about rock music. Based around guitar work so polite you almost forget it's in the room, every song is a charming, but emotionally driven piece of clever songwriting."
Pitchfork Media

"The vocals of Mark Janka have a very heartwarming flow...A sort of meandering alt.folk country rock singer who blends sadness and humor with some excellent songwriting skills...These songs make you sing."
The Big Takeover

"This soft and lovely music is all about tenderness, heartache, and most of all, good music. Three songs on this CD blend perfectly with a hug from your lady, or man. If you don't want to slow dance to Whitney Houston or R Kelly, you can really get your romance on to The Lesser Birds Of Paradise. This is intelligent music for lovers, or loving music for intelligent people. Play this for your lady, and she'll be all romanced up."
Transworld Skateboarding

"Combining offbeat acoustic instrumentation (lap steel, accordion, dulcimer) with heartland poetry, the band has created a piece that echoes the loneliness of the Interstate and the sadness of unrequited love."
Static Multimedia