"The band’s latest, Bridges Worth Burning (Barsuk), will no doubt get branded with the dreaded “emo” label, though the band’s press sheet practically begs reviewers to think of some other way to describe the band. Really, it’s not too hard since Kind Of Like Spitting is too good to be emo. Barnett is more a throwback to old-school punk in that he doesn’t mope or whine at adversity; he gets pissed off, allowing his band to thrash out the appropriate dynamic musicianship for each particular emotion, even during the more introspective moments of the disc. Kind of rare, and kind of cool."  (Columbus Alive)

"Kind of Like Spitting is essentially Portland native Ben Barnett's baby, and over the years he's gone from acoustic singer/songwriter guy hell-bent on falling in love, to guy with a full electric band who is still confounded by all things romantic but wants to vent a little more vociferously about it, back to acoustic guy only with better production values. Now Death Cab for Cutie's Ben Gibbard and Chris Walla chime in on what is the most forceful album of Barnett's career.

As the name suggests, Kind of Like Spitting's Bridges Worth Burning (Barsuk) finds the songwriter battle-scarred but not broken. Barnett's still trying to understand his ever-elusive muse, but he definitely learned some hard lessons that stuck. He's developed the ability to dip his toes in and test out the emotional current rather than blindly cannonballing into potentially turgid pools of dumb-ass, told-ya-so torment.

Lines like "Till a good one leaves the continent / you just can't write words to send" ("Continent") stand out because the literal logic of the sentiment is superceded by the fact that no one can make that realization any earlier than life will allow them to. And that's exactly the point of this record. More than anything, Bridges Worth Burning sounds like a life in progress, informed by experience and bracing for what is to come."  (Stranger)

"Smattered with raw feelings, get set for some serious self-contemplation after a deep listen. Despite everything, Barnett remains true to his emo-tions, delivering a compelling record and forcefully making it clear that he is not just a stereotype."  (CMJ New Music Report)

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