Metascore
66

Generally favorable reviews - based on 10 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 7 out of 10
  2. Negative: 0 out of 10
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  1. Whereas 2011's Want More felt uneven, Howl is dynamic, controlled and with few, if any holes.
  2. Uncut
    Dec 6, 2013
    80
    Articulate, emotional and primed for the dancefloor. [Jan 2014, p.71]
  3. Jul 18, 2013
    80
    The middle lags a bit, but that’s forgotten when ninth song Cold brings the breakup album home with simple piano and Brooks’s wounded singing.
  4. Jul 16, 2013
    70
    Now three albums into their career, JC Brooks & the Uptown Sound have taken their lumps, paid their dues and emerged as a band rooted equally in the wisdom of the past and the optimism of the present.
  5. May 24, 2013
    70
    Despite the obvious--and deliberate--reference points, most of Howl is a solid chapter in the evolution of a fascinating band.
  6. May 24, 2013
    70
    There’s a sense listening to Howl that its creation might have stung a bit, but in the end, the band’s pain proves to be the listener’s pleasure.
  7. May 24, 2013
    62
    It appears that by shaking off the mantle of “indie-soul revivalists,” Brooks and his band may have also shaken off the element of excitement that made them worth listening to.

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