Despite Fanning's claims he could not write a country song, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) and BBC drew comparisons to Neil Young and supergroup Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. The ABC said Tea & Sympathy resembled the band's work, "though without the hippy, drippy lyrics", while the BBC observed a "harmony porch style sound" highly similar to that of Young. Allmusic wrote that "Fanning's influences are strictly old school", noting Manassas' self-titled album and Elton John's Tumbleweed Connection as similar.
