Negative criticism was received from The Guardian's Jude Rogers, who described "Tell Me Where It Hurts" as "anodyne", while The Scotsman felt that the song "is not out of place [on Absolute Garbage], but neither does it better anything already said".
The criticism received by "Tell Me Where It Hurts" came from Jude Rogers of The Guardian, who deemed it unremarkable, and The Scotsman, who believed it was on par with Absolute Garbage's other songs but didn't improve upon them.