All Girl Summer Fun Band's Summer of '98 EP contains four songs from the group's debut 7" single on Magic Marker plus three songs recorded at the same time but never before released. The winsome girl group's charming sound (enthusiastic vocals, twee but not too twee lyrics, and bopping beats) was not yet fully formed at the time of the recording; the sound is tinny and thin, the songs hooky but not very sharp, the lyrics on the wrong side of twee. Songs like "Drawbridge" and "Grass Skirt" pale in comparison musically and lyrically to the songs on their full-length discs on K. The best song on Summer of '98 is the previously buried ballad "Lipsmacker Kiss," the only tune with any emotion or spark and the only song that gives any clue as to how good the band would become by the time of its second record. One can't really blame Magic Marker for releasing this disc, but it doesn't really do the band or its fans any favors.
-All Music Guide