Pitchfork's Spencer Owen characterized the music as "art punk" writing that their "[a]ngular guitars, [...] oddly clattering beats, and [...] six-minute songs [...] seem to borrow more from Wire and the Talking Heads than the Ramones and the Stooges.

"[2] Douglas Wolk called the album a "twin to 1998's Starters Alternators"[3] and highlighted "guitarists Terrie and Andy's dueling shredding-sheet-metal atonalities and Gordian-knot rhythms.

"[3] Franklin Bruno of LA Weekly wrote that the album "doesn't owe a hell of a lot to rock & roll as we know it, though Gang of Four, Fugazi and non-hippie Sonic Youth are all in the mix.

"[1] "Many years of experience have enabled the members of the Ex to perfect their particular brand of agitprop;" writes Kristel, "even if you don't always agree with their anger, you may still enjoy the musical conviction with which they express it.

"[4] "It's still hard to believe that a punk band formed more than 20 years ago are capable of releasing a new album that's both vital and worthy of the promise of their early material" wrote Alternative Press, "With Dizzy Spells, the quintet may have topped it all.