At Rolling Stone, Will Hermes noted how "The title is bullshit – the kind people spit when dodging pain."
Will Hermes of Rolling Stone rated the album three-and-a-half stars out of five, and called it "A series of bracing songs about a self-destructive girl in a boy's body, its a thematic offspring of Lou Reed (see Berlin, etc.), and noted how "it takes balls to come out this way, in this genre" wishing Laura "God-speed, sister.
His work has also appeared in Spin, The New York Times, The Village Voice, The Believer, GQ, Salon, Entertainment Weekly, Details, City Pages (Minneapolis, MN), The Windy City Times, and Option.
Hermès | Hermes | Hermes Trismegistus | Euler Hermes | Will Hermes | HMS Hermes (95) | HMS Hermes | Order of Hermes | HMS ''Hermes'' | Hermes (journal) | ''Hermes'' class | Hermes Binner | Georg Hermes | Genco Gulan, "Hermès | Corinne Hermès |
Will Hermes of Rolling Stone published a favourable review of "Hurts Like Heaven"; giving the track 3 and a half stars out of 5, he praised the song's "outstanding guitar asides", noting that the song's word rush "occasionally recalled LCD Soundsystem's 'All My Friends'".