[1] After the grueling worldwide tour the band had completed in support of their previous album, 1995's Red Medicine, Fugazi took an extended break and also began writing material for a follow-up release.

AllMusic critic Andy Kellman singled out the tracks "Closed Captioned", "Floating Boy" and "Foreman's Dog" as "the worst stretch of material Fugazi have recorded", noting a "virtually complete disregard for linearity that makes things seem stitched together.

"[3] NME journalist Stephen Dalton was more positive, calling End Hits "a rather good record from a well-meaning bunch who are finally allowing a little colour and tenderness into their slate-grey terrorist cell.

[14] Mojo critic Jenny Bulley remarked that certain tracks seemed to have resulted from "lengthy jam sessions," observing that "on 'Closed Caption' [sic] they meander more than is strictly necessary, though the approach works brilliantly on the darker, dubbier 'Pink Frosty'."

Club's Joshua Klein noted that "the music continues in the experimental vein" of Red Medicine and would likely disappoint fans expecting more conventional rock songs, while describing End Hits as "a curious look at America's most vital band as it finds new and inventive ways to buckle and squirm under its self-imposed constraints.

"[17] A few years later, Trouser Press lauded End Hits as a continuation of "the evolutionary sonic path first carved out on Red Medicine, except with more focus and even less reliance on the formulaic punk chug of their own invention.

Limited vinyl copies of the album feature a gatefold cover, which folds out to display a live photograph of the band playing at the Palladium in New York City, taken by Glen E. Friedman.