they did not measure up to albums put out during the same period by the band's peers, specifically Screeching Weasel's My Brain Hurts (1991), Green Day's Dookie (1994), and the Mr. T Experience's Love Is Dead (1996). Reflecting on it in 2014, Appelgren said that "the recording wasn't that strong and while there are some great songs, it's got some weak tracks. It still did pretty well, but didn't feel like a step forward as the previous releases all did. I always appreciated records that felt like they were progressions from where the band had been before, and Move Back Home felt like a lateral record. It didn't advance the notion of the Queers." In his book Punk USA: The Rise and Fall of Lookout Records (2014), author Kevin Prested called it "the band's filler album. With punk-by-the-numbers compositions, the Queers had lost some of the flair of the two previous albums, giving the impression of rushed new songs. If Surf Goddess had been a stopgap, then perhaps with more time they could have created a more thought-out release. While not bad by any means, the band had been building up to something on another level with the fantastic Love Songs for the Retarded and Beat Off, which is probably why Move Back Home felt disappointing." Critic Robert Christgau gave the album a rating of "neither" in his Consumer Guide, marking it as an album which "may impress once or twice with consistent craft or an arresting track or two. Then it won't." One critic who did give the album a positive review was Kembrew McLeod; Writing for AllMusic, he rated it 4 stars out of 5 and said "Move Back Home demonstrates that the Queers are getting better and better at channeling the black leather jacket-clad spirit of their punk forefathers [the Ramones]. They, of course, still haven't grown up — Joe still sings about not having a girlfriend and acting like a jerk, but no one else can do it better, save for the Mr. T Experience's Dr. Frank. The best demonstration of how good they've gotten at crafting great pop songs is the fact that it's hard to tell which song is a Brian Wilson cover and which one is an original." Reissue In 2006 the Queers followed several other former Lookout! artists in rescinding their master tapes and licensing rights from the label, invoking a clause