No Soul No Strain completes the descent of Wire Train from an endearing new-wave pop band to a rather boring M.O.R. outfit -- something which happens to so many groups that it's difficult to really blame Wire Train for it. The record offers no buzzy, hooky pop confections like "Chamber of Hellos" -- no one could expect the band to go on in that vein forever -- and opts instead for blandly rocking moments; the album's best points are lame Britpop moves which make Wire Train sound like a second-rate, bargain-bin, late-eighties Manchester band. This isn't to say that No Soul No Strain is absolutely terrible -- there's some decent pop involved -- but it's a pretty lamentable decline for a band like Wire Train. -- Nitsuh Abebe (allmus.com)