He criticised the group's "Beatles fixation", bemoaning when the band appears "to cop from outside sources", such as the melody of the Beatles' "Please Please Me" in "When You're Near Me I Have Difficulty". Playboy published a single-sentence review: "Devo clones that sound more like the old Maxwell House percolator than like a rock band." Retrospective AllMusic reviewer Chris Woodstra reflected that the album signalled "a turning point ... with a more subdued set of songs that reflect an increasing songwriting proficiency. The aimless energy of the first two albums is focused into a cohesive statement with a distinctive voice that retains their clever humor, quirky wordplay, and decidedly British flavor. ... driven by the powerful rhythms and angular, mainly minimalistic arrangements." Greg Kot of the Chicago Tribune cited the album as "among the more accomplished records of its time-edgy, brisk and sarcastic, with pop gems such as 'Making Plans for Nigel' and 'Life Begins at the Hop.'" Ultimate Classic Rocks Michael Galluci said it was XTC's "first great album" and the first in a "string of musically ambitious records". In 2004, Drums and Wires was ranked number 38 on Pitchforks list of the 100 best albums of the 1970s. Contributor Chris Dahlen wrote: "Dozens of other contemporary bands were more extreme in every way—angrier, more danceable, more adventurous or primitive or whatever—but this triple-jointed sock hop out-charms them all." In 2016, "Making Plans for Nigel" was ranked number 143 on the website's list of the 200 best songs of the 1970s. In 2019, Drums and Wires was ranked number 31 in a similar list by Paste. Legacy Drums and Wires became the best-known album of XTC's discography. Partridge and Moulding reflected on the period as the point in which XTC's "career really started". Gregory did not think he would remain with the band. He remembered: "I don't think I took my role in XTC seriously right up to English Settlement. Drums and Wires was just great fun to me. ... The next thing we knew we were getting four-star reviews in all the papers. How did that happen?" Lillywhite and Padgham returned for the band's follow-up album Black Sea (1980). Only Padgham was recruited for the record after, English Settlement (1982), as Partridge felt "it was Hugh who was getting all the great sounds". In Moulding's recollection, "Up until that point, we were viewed as a poor man’s Talking