AllMusic wrote that the band "can build a whole song out of a lugubrious piano, a folky guitar and an antiquated harpsichord, the beautiful bowing of a sonorous violin, or McCartney-esque ringing pop, and make the whole thing hang together."[1] The Richmond Times-Dispatch wrote that the album "features a host of melodically engaging tunes from unheralded songwriter Brian Tighe."[6]Washington City Paper wrote that the band "juice their sound with a force they used to only imply, resulting in the most jagged, Brit-poppy music of their career."[7]
^Billboard (magazine) Jun 2, 2001 p. 26 "And the band's last, the Restless Records release Second Story, was finally going to get them some national attention. ... Hang Ups Second Story was the band's first new album since the 1997 film Chasing Amy featured an early track by the group."
^CMJ New Music Monthly - Nov 1999 - Page 50 No. 75 On Second Story, however, the Hang-ups marry their beautiful melodies with the ideal production team, Mitch Easter and Don Dixon, who hadn't worked together since recording R.E.M.'s Murmur and Reckoning more than 15 years ago.
^New York - Volume 32, Issues 22-28 1999 -- Page 188 "Pickings are a bit more slim for rock fans, but the Missed-out jangle-pop of the HangUps (whose new album, Second Story, was helmed by legendary producers Don Dixon and Mitch Easter, who last teamed up to produce R.E.M.'s Reckoning"