"Louder Now" received a score of 64 out of 100 from Metacritic, indicating "generally favorable reviews." AbsolutePunk founder Jason Tate considered the album "closer to Northstar's "Pollyanna"" than to "Where You Want to Be", and said that the music wasn't "anything mind-blowing. I don't get knocked on my ass like I did the first time I heard TAYF, but the catchy repetitiveness is all there." AllMusic reviewer Corey Apar called the album's name "an apt title for a super-tight, aggressive album that falls somewhere between their last two, tapping the heartfelt vigor of "Tell All Your Friends" in order to give "Where You Want to Be" a swift, square kick in the pants." Scott Heisel wrote for "Alternative Press" that the band " spot-on when they floor it or put it in park; it's the sputtering along in-between that hurts the record." Despite not mastering "the art of the middle ground," they take "immense leaps forward musically on their third album." According to Heisel, the band should be "commended, not for just choosing not to rehash their older work, but for truly trying to branch out artistically—and succeeding most of the time."