According to
Trouser Press, the EP "illustrates just how far Fugazi’s four have traveled from their hardcore beginnings. [...] in MacKaye’s melodic guitar work, the tight, fluid rhythm section, the incisive lyrics and the sharply arranged vocal exchanges." "Continuing to develop the stylings he began with
Minor Threat," it continues, "MacKaye manages to make the expletives in the vigorously monotonal, part spoken “Promises” sound somewhat eloquent." Andy Kellman of
AllMusic called it an "equally excellent follow-up to the
Fugazi EP."
Melody Maker reviewed
Margin Walker positively, with its critic noting that the EP sounded better with successive listens. "Four plays and songs suddenly open up," they wrote. "[The record] hasn't seen the inside of its sleeve in five days, going on six."
John Robb, writing in
Sounds, noted that: {{Blockquote In a 2014 retrospective piece on
13 Songs,
Washington City Paper's Brandon Gentry writes that "[w]hile
Margin Walker sounds more polished than
Fugazi, it doesn’t lack in intensity or intelligence. The title track’s stunray guitar and elastic bass lines are the ideal backdrop for MacKaye’s and Picciotto’s traded lyrical barbs. “And the Same” combines slashing chords and shouted invective into a scathing diatribe against racism and retrograde thinking. “Promises” is an insightful meditation on trust, betrayal, and the acceptance of disappointment." ==Covers==