America Give Up
by Howler
Metascore
68

Generally favorable reviews - based on 17 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 9 out of 17
  2. Mixed: 8 out of 17
  3. Negative: 0 out of 17
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  1. AllMusic
    Jan 17, 2012
    60
    It's a debut with potential, especially if Howler find their own identity as completely as they borrowed others'.
  2. Drowned In Sound
    Jan 11, 2012
    40
    Catchy, bratty and phenomenally uninspiring, America Give Up is not so much shouting from the rooftops as howling at the moon.
  3. No Ripcord
    Jan 18, 2012
    60
    A "more accessible, less-noisy Jesus and Mary Chain".
  5. NOW Magazine
    Jan 12, 2012
    60
    This is an endearing and eminently likeable listen.
  6. Pitchfork
    Jan 26, 2012
    60
    America Give Up is inconsistent and derivative yet promising, and not nearly as impressive as some early adopters would have people believe.
  7. The Observer (UK)
    Jan 17, 2012
    60
    A seductive reiteration of the precepts of attitudinal guitar pop. Or you could put it another way – it's derivative, audaciously so, but fun none the less.
  8. Uncut
    Jan 13, 2012
    40
    The content is often too light and derivative to suggest they really are saviors in waiting. [Feb 2012, p.89]
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  9. Under The Radar
    Mar 21, 2012
    60
    This is mainly just sunny, disintegrated, low-stakes rock music. [Mar 2012, p.84]
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User Reviews

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User Score
7.2

Generally favorable reviews- based on 9 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 6 out of 9
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 9
  3. Negative: 0 out of 9
  1. MusiclyMade
    Oct 4, 2012
    4
    uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh hb,hg hhhhhhuhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh hb,hg hhhhhh hkbkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkdd… Full Review »
  2. Steech
    Jun 9, 2012
    7
    Howler is a group of impossibly young people from Minneapolis who blur the line between guitar rock and guitar pop. Perhaps that impossibleHowler is a group of impossibly young people from Minneapolis who blur the line between guitar rock and guitar pop. Perhaps that impossible youth is a barrier against sounding like those other Minneapolis bands that - once upon a time - also blurred the line between guitar rock and guitar pop. Howler sounds absolutely nothing like Hüsker Dü or The Replacements. Instead, they bear more than a glancing resemblance to a band from a later epoch, The Strokes. But where The Strokes were jangly and focused on 60s rock, Howler is fuzzy and based on 80s rock. America Give Up is destined to show up on a lot of "best of 2012" lists. More importantly than that, though, America Give Up seems like an album we will still be listening to five or ten or fifteen years from now. Howler shares some of the same callow characteristics of other fuzzy pop bands. Unlike Best Coast's Crazy For You (not to pick on Best Coast - I happen to like that record very much), America Give Up has more than naivete for appeal. It's a very good album by many measures and the band seems like it will grow.… Full Review »
  3. Binki
    Feb 16, 2012
    9
    "America Give Up" is not perfect but for a debut album it's really great ! My favorites tracks are "Beach Sluts" and "Black Lagoon". They're"America Give Up" is not perfect but for a debut album it's really great ! My favorites tracks are "Beach Sluts" and "Black Lagoon". They're also really good live ! A band to keep an eye on !… Full Review »
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