[7] In addition to the film, Pere Ubu was inspired by Van der Graaf Generator's Pawn Hearts.

[8] Record Collector wrote that the album "scrapes up enough sporadic excellence to justify David Thomas’ perseverance in the 21st-century scheme of things.

"[10] Greil Marcus, in The Believer, thought that the lead track "Golden Surf II" "shoots out like a flood, and then you can ride the wave of transmorgrification that sweeps over the whole album.

"[11] The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel determined that the band "still challenges itself and its listeners on its unsettling, menacing circus of a latest disc.

Faustus', one of the album's most score-like pieces, combines metallic percussion, spare guitars and David Thomas' muttered vocals into something rustic and rickety, yet threatening at a moment's notice.