In a positive review for The Village Voice, Robert Christgau highlighted the band's ability to create unexpected noises, which he described as "marks of flesh-and-blood creatures thinking and feeling things neither you nor they have ever thought or felt before. If they can't quite put those things into words, that's what unexpected noises are for." Unlike previous Sonic Youth albums, Experimental Jet Set was not ranked in the Top 40 of The Village Voices Pazz & Jop critics' poll for 1994, but Christgau placed it at No. 3 in his own "Dean's List". In a retrospective review for About.com, 90s rock expert Melissa Bobbitt wrote: "Though it might not be as universally celebrated as 1988's Daydream Nation or Dirty, this record represented the triumphant rise of the Alternative Nation and its progressive nature." In 2014, Guitar World placed Experimental Jet Set, Trash and No Star at No. 44 in their "Superunknown: 50 Iconic Albums That Defined 1994" list.
