Who Killed Harry Houdini?

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	68/100[3]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AbsolutePunk	8.0/10[4]
AllMusic	[5]
ChartAttack	link
Robert Christgau	[6]
Pitchfork	5.9/10[7]
PopMatters	[8]
Spectrum Culture	link
Spin	[9]
Tiny Mix Tapes	[10]

Who Killed Harry Houdini? received mostly positive reviews from contemporary music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 68, based on 12 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews".[3]

Dan Raper of PopMatters praised the album, stating, "Shiny pieces of melody peek out from the lush pop textures the band’s created all through Who Killed Harry Houdini?. In fact, the album keeps up songwriting quality at a surprisingly consistent level, taking a collective breath before barrelling into a series of fine tunes to close. From “Ophelia”’s awkward keyboard switches to the expansive, syncopated refrain of “Little Ghost”, this section of the disc feels like a nostalgic, triumphant encore. It’s not the last one this band will have demanded of them."[8]

Marc Hogan of Pitchfork Media was more critical of the album, stating, "Houdini sounds like an attempt to escape from the predicament of the sophomore album, making more nuanced use of orchestration and sticking with a comfortingly sweet and naïve tone while also expanding its perspective. March-like first single "Paper Planes" has sunny guitars, whistling woodwinds, neighbors' sex, and "The Cosby Show", slyly invoking the way we pass unseen through the lives of strangers; free mp3 giveaway "Music Killed Me" adds a kiddie-psych spaceyness, using the choral vocal to full rhetorical advantage. "Andy" politely invites a guy—with the same name as one of my local bartenders!-- to join the band. But nothing here has the euphoric simplicity of "We're From Barcelona", or quite the infant-"Calvin & Hobbes" wisdom of "Chicken Pox" and "Treehouse"."[7]