Billboard - "The heart of “Sharpest Tool,” a racing reminiscence of a failed romance, is the juxtaposition between Carpenter’s blurted-out verses scavenging the details of her heartbreak and the downcast conclusion of the chorus, “We never talk about it.” Antonoff’s fingerprints are all over this one — the picked guitar strings leading to the syncopated beat recalls some of the best moments of The 1975’s pop opus Being Funny in a Foreign Language — but Carpenter amplifies the sorrowful corners with unmasked anger and hurt, and elevates the arrangement as a whole."
Variety - "Jack Antonoff making his versatile mark on four songs. Not surprisingly, the Taylorisms peak one of his contributions, “Sharpest Tool"
NY Times - "In “Sharpest Tool,” Carpenter confronts someone who drew her into intimacy, then “found God at your ex’s house” and “logged out, leaving me dumbfounded.” Produced, played and written by Jack Antonoff (along with Carpenter and one of pop’s prolific collaborators, Amy Allen), it’s a Minimalist matrix of guitar picking, electronics and vocals, all tension and syncopation."
NME - "Sassy, flirty lines and lyrics that put Carpenter’s romantic partners in their place are the order of the day here. “I know you’re not the sharpest tool in the shed,” she sings gently on ‘Sharpest Tool’. “We had sex, I met your best friends / And then a bird flies by and you forget.”
Rolling Stone - "There’s more banjo and acoustic guitar here than anyone would have guessed, mostly used for its percussive snap, as in the finger-picking rhythm hooks of “Slim Pickins” and “Sharpest Tool.” The whole country/synth-pop vibe evokes Madonna’s disco-cowgirl phase in her Music era—somehow Ms. Ciccone’s “Don’t Tell Me” has grown into a major pop touchstone for our moment."
Clash - "‘Slim Pickins’ and ‘Sharpest Tool’ continue the trend, a return-to-form for Sabrina with a gentle acoustic guitar on each, over which her lyrics lament the various ways in which men can be disappointing"
Exclaim! - "Short n' Sweet still has some lyrical flubs. Most confusing is "Sharpest Tool," on which Carpenter sings that "We had sex, I met your best friends / Then a bird flies by and you forget."
Paste - "Less lethal but still intriguing is “Sharpest Tool,” which embeds quippy lines like “We never talk about how you found God at your ex’s house / Always made sure that the phone was face down / Seems like overnight I’m just a bitch you hate now” into a piece of intimate, Postal Service-reminiscent techno—a surprising and welcome turn from Carpenter. The way the line “We never talk about it” seems to float atop an exhale puts her breathy soprano to stunning use."
TLOBF - "On tracks like “Sharpest Tool” and “Lie to Girls”, words feel immediate and unedited, as if written during a ride home following the disappointing encounter. Sometimes choruses are plain repetitions of a sentence, and verses mere fragments of it. The blunt roughness rewards a badge of raw honesty, but is vitiated by the narrative that’s in part at odds with itself."
Irish Times - "Sharpest Tool is an eye-rolling takedown of a clueless lover (“I know you’re not the sharpest tool in the shed / We had sex, I met your best friends / Then a bird flies by and you forget”)"
Billboard - "Marvel at the degree of difficulty with which Carpenter sings the evolving chorus of “Coincidence,” her upper register gripping the words “And you’ve lost all your common sense / What a coincidence,” and rolling the syllables around in her mouth to try and understand her betrayed circumstances. “Coincidence” enters campfire sing-along territory thanks to its “na-na-na” post-chorus and brash guitar strums, but Carpenter imbues the snappy production with lasting feeling."
Variety - "“Last week, you didn’t have any doubts/ This week, you’re holding space for her tongue in your mouth” (“Coincidence”)"
NY Times - "“Coincidence” zeros in on someone whose ex is back in his life with hearty guitar strumming, “na na na na” harmonies and leaping melody lines that hark back to Joni Mitchell and Crosby, Stills and Nash"
Pitchfork - "Though “Coincidence”’s singalong vibes step a little too close to the folk-pop campfire, Carpenter largely pulls off these stylistic crossovers thanks to a big-ass voice that she wields with ease.", "Carpenter stays busy finding novel ways to reference pervert therapy speak (“You’re holding space for her tongue in your mouth” is a particularly memorable one.)"
NME - "Sassy, flirty lines and lyrics that put Carpenter’s romantic partners in their place are the order of the day here. Moments later, on the twanging ‘Coincidence’, she rolls her eyes at a lover failing to hide that he’s crawling back to his ex: “What a surprise, your phone just died / Your car drove itself from LA to her thighs.”, "Musically, Carpenter mostly finds that niche she’s been searching for, getting comfortable in a country-pop groove on the likes of ‘Coincidence’
Independent - "Short n’ Sweet ends with the unexpectedly Laurel Canyon-y strum-along of “Coincidence”. Imagine a 21st-century version of Crosby Stills Nash and Young with Joni Mitchell singing along around a beach fire and you’re there."
Rolling Stone - "But the flip side is “Coincidence,” where the ex is back in the game, as she sings, “Last week you didn’t have any doubts/This week you’re holding space for her tongue in your mouth.”"
Exclaim! - "Yet the emotional and sonic roller coaster of Short n' Sweet can cut its high points too quickly. "Coincidence" awkwardly dips into Joni Mitchell-aping stomp-clap-hey territory"
Paste - "On “Coincidence,” Carpenter flips the tired trend therapy-speak pop on its head with a cheeky couplet: “Last night you had no doubt / Now you’re holding space for her tongue in your mouth.” Less clever is a line like “Your car drove itself from LA to her thighs,” but neither moment can rescue the track from sounding as bland and uninspired as Harry Styles does whenever he tries on a similarly skin-deep Lauren Canyon schtick—complete with stop-and-start acoustic strumming, hand claps and mindless “na-na-na” backing vocals."
TLOBF - "Coincidence" pale in comparison as Carpenter’s budding signature gives in to more sombre lyrics and static tunes."
Irish Times - "Confidence, meanwhile, are caustic rebukes delivered to a former lover."
Sputnikmusic - "Most of the LP’s second half falls into the category of bland balladry, with ‘Coincidence’ throwing in a token acoustic guitar that sounds mightily out of place"
Billboard - "Carpenter fills this jaunty little lament over the status of modern men with witticisms you’ll need a few listens to fully catch — in the second verse, for instance, she very quickly writes off a guy for not knowing the difference between “there,” “their” and “they are,” heartbreak caused by a homophone. The album’s closest brush with country-pop, “Slim Pickins” is not positioned as a centerpiece on Short n’ Sweet but charms nonetheless."
Variety - "the two acoustic-based songs", "the country-leaning “Slim Pickins” — are grouped together, creating a mini acoustic set in the middle of the album.", "“Slim Pickins” just needs a fiddle to be a full-on country song"
NY Times - "Slim Pickins” uses string-band country picking to complain about how she has to settle for second-rate men because the “the good ones are deceased or taken.”"
NME - "Sometimes, the star switches things up and puts herself in the self-deprecating crosshairs, as on the countrified ‘Slim Pickins’. “This boy doesn’t even know the difference between there, their and they are / Yet he’s naked in my room,” she sighs."
Independent - "Carpenter also plucks the strings of the current country revival with the snappy “Slim Pickins” on which she scrolls through “all the douchebags on my phone” to the skippy finger-pickin’ of a yee-haw guitar."
Rolling Stone - "There’s more banjo and acoustic guitar here than anyone would have guessed, mostly used for its percussive snap, as in the finger-picking rhythm hooks of “Slim Pickins” and “Sharpest Tool.” The whole country/synth-pop vibe evokes Madonna’s disco-cowgirl phase in her Music era—somehow Ms. Ciccone’s “Don’t Tell Me” has grown into a major pop touchstone for our moment."
"the character the singer plays across the album’s 12 tracks: a girl next door pursued by clueless hunks (“A boy who’s jacked and kind/can’t find his ass to save my life,” she quips on “Slim Pickins”), the kind you might write off as “basic” before you discover that she has something unexpected to say."
Slant - "“Slim Pickins” lean into lush folk-pop", "The singer turns potentially unwieldy lines like “This boy doesn’t even know/The difference between ‘there,’ ‘their’, and ‘they are’” into casual bits of effortless dialogue."
Clash - "‘Slim Pickins’ and ‘Sharpest Tool’ continue the trend, a return-to-form for Sabrina with a gentle acoustic guitar on each, over which her lyrics lament the various ways in which men can be disappointing - indeed, on ‘Slim Pickins’, Carpenter just gives up: “guess I’ll end this life alone / I am not dramatic…”
Exclaim! - "It's dry out here for a thirsty girl, as country-fried "Slim Pickins" makes clear, its wry whimsy falling neatly into the wordplay and dry humour of the genre. But country girls make do, and self-deprecating jabs over sleeping with a boy who "doesn't even know the difference between 'there,' 'their' and 'they are'" is a strong example of her endearing cheekiness."
Paste - "She’s also made the year’s best Kacey Musgraves track: “Slim Pickins” makes me wonder what a full cowgirl-glam country record from Carpenter might sound like. It captures the emotional intimacy that tracks like “Dumb & Poetic” and “Lie To Girls” can only feign, and it does so without sacrificing Carpenter’s humor, which is one the greatest weapons in her arsenal: “Since the good ones call their exes wasted / And since the lord forgot my gay awakening / I’ll just be here in the kitchen / Servin’ up some moanin’ and bitchin’.”"
TLObF - "Dolly Parton-flavoured “Slim Pickins” throws gasp-provoking lines like “This boy doesn’t even know the difference between ‘their’, ‘there’, and ‘they’re’” and “The Lord forgot my gay awakening”. Carpenter and often-credited songwriter Amy Allen’s pen in its ripest form, which has previously had listeners joyfully impart “so true, bestie”, is what catapults her career to rapid global stardom."
Irish Times - "the enjoyable country-pop pastiche of Slim Pickins sees her croon “This boy doesn’t know even the difference between there, they’re and they are / And he’s naked in my room, listing all the things he’s missing.”"
Sputnikmusic - "‘Slim Pickins’ comes across as a bizarre anthem/admission to settling and/or leading on someone who is below your personal standards: “A boy who's jacked and kind, can't find his ass to save my life / Oh, it's slim pickings / If I can't have the one I love, I guess it's you that I'll be kissin' / Just to get my fixings."
Billboard - "Carpenter doesn’t sing “You make me wanna fall in love” on the ‘80s-indebted workout “Juno”; she sings, “You make me wanna make you fall in love,” a mastermind-in-training post-Eras tour who’s considering letting her beau “make me Juno,” and engaging in sex so transcendent it results in a baby. The standout lines on “Juno” are primed for TikTok trends and quote-tweets, but once again, Carpenter enthralls in the details of her double entendres, like the way she breathlessly rhymes “high-fived” with “objectified,” or how the bridge builds and builds toward that one indelible declaration. “Juno” is the work of a pop pro, and Carpenter makes it sound effortless."
Variety - "“I showed my friends, then we high-fived/ Sorry if you feel objеctified” (“Juno”)", "“I’m so fuckin’ horny” (“Juno”)"
Pitchfork - "But the standout “Juno” takes it further. Atop a roller rink gloss, Carpenter reimagines the teen pregnancy plot of the 2007 indie film as seductive shorthand: “I might let you make me Juno.” In case that reference went over any heads, she then steps out from behind the double entendres and sings: “I’m so fuckin’ horny!”"
NME - "Musically, Carpenter mostly finds that niche she’s been searching for, nailing frothy pop bops like ‘Taste’ and ‘Juno’"
Independent - "lyrics in which she apologises for showing her lover’s private photos to friends (“Juno”)"
Slant - "At a time of when that agency is under assault, it feels downright subversive for Carpenter to reframe “Juno,” a song about maybe being okay with having her partner’s baby, into a treatise on how “fucking horny” she is. “Sorry if you feel objectified…give it to me, baby,” Carpenter declares—“it” being both a good time and (sure, why not) a kid too. These surprising flashes of wit make the competently crafted Short n’ Sweet much more than just a polished slice of pop."
Clash - "she has no time for “highbrow manipulation”.. especially when she has sentiments she just needs to get out like ‘Juno’s “I’m so fuckin’ horny” in which Carpenter eloquently explains how she fancies someone so much she “might let you make me Juno”, on one of the record’s bigger bops too, going full coming-of-age with sparkly guitar riffs and grooves. Carpenter mostly sticks to the blueprint – sexier soundtracking when she’s feeling sexier."
Exclaim! - "Angelyne-inspired '80s pop "Juno" riffs off its titular film and turns it X-rated, with baby fever made kinky by asking "Wanna try out my pink fuzzy handcuffs?" Carpenter's sleaze is campy fun, but it can get a bit much, even if you're not a pearl-clutcher."
Paste - "Carpenter is at her best when she’s taking big swings, when her preferred mode of seduction is silly-sexy—when she’s not afraid to be a little ridiculous or a little tacky, like the fuzzy pink handcuffs that she wants to slip into on the deliriously horny “Juno,” perhaps the most fun and light-hearted addition to the recent canon of baby fever pop. Sure, a woman in her mid-20s begging her man to get her teen-pregnant (as the title’s film reference would suggest) kinda feels like Ilana from Broad City exclaiming “I’m 27. What am I? A child bride?” but the song’s punchline just makes it all the more effervescent—as does the ecstatic exclamation point of “You make me wanna make you fall in love—ow!” It’s shining moments like these—each giggly one-liner or crystalline high note—that make me, an admitted skeptic, want to hop back on the Sabrina Carpenter hype train"
TLOBF - "“Bad Chem” and “Juno” come in second -after the singles], both produced by John Ryan and Ian Kirkpatrick, imitating the feel-good music of the 2010s: modernised 80s-style disco with sunshine synths atop."
Sputnikmusic - "Sabrina sings on about letting a guy impregnate her (“make me Juno”) if he “loves her right”. None of it feels fun or flirty, or witty/ironic; I’d simply characterize Short n’ Sweet as a weird and uncomfortable listen.
