Lohio received mixed reviews when it was originally released.[9] One favorable review was written by Kevin Oliver of PopMatters, who wrote that the album "provides ample proof of [Ass Ponys'] natural progression into a kind of alternative-universe country rock."[5] In 2012, Ned Lannamann of the Portland Mercury called Lohio "a dark, weird, marvelous album" and "a record of heartland rock that, for once, accurately reflected the state of the American heartland—one troubled by blight, marginalized by big-box businesses, and pepped up on meth."[10]