The thing with lyrics is that its all subjective. I don't think LP has ever released a song in which the lyrics didn't flow and sounded uncomfortable in the song. The problems that most people have with the early stuff is that a lot of the lyrical content is too "poor me". Which to some degree, I can agree with, but for some people that is exactly what they want to hear in a song. So as long as its presented well, then its not an issue to them.
Personally, I think their lyrics have gotten even stronger as their albums have progressed. Songs like BITS, RB, WFTE, LITE, COG, and RU have contained some of their best lyrical content to date.
I am worried about what the new album holds in store lyric wise because GATS was kind of lacking.