Whenever a band has more than four musicians, one’s mind is flooded with the frightening specter of the Allman Brothers or Jethro Tull—bands whose sole purpose is to create an unintelligible wall of sound that drones on and on for days, weeks, months. Within the first minute of listening to We Were Set Up any such fears are put to rest. Canasta brings together a myriad of instruments and plays them all with precision and purpose. Megan O’Connor’s piano skills are the backbone for a number of tracks, including the raucous opener, ‘Microphone Song’. The rest of the band meticulously layers varying amounts of violin, trombone, and clarinet on top. Matt Priest also offers a few surprises on vocals, at times channelling the nerd-pop of They Might Be Giants’ John Linnell and other times Freddy Mercury. It all results in one of the most vibrant pop sounds to emerge from Chicago in years.

— Evan Clossin, UR Magazine (Chicago, IL), November, 2005