When Mission of Burma's involvement as the Din came to an end, the Volcano Suns replaced them, becoming Dredd Foole's backing band in time for June 2, 1984's show opening for Sonic Youth.
The Bear's, Forced Exposure creator Jimmy Johnson wrote: "Fact is, with this gig and another the following week at the Rat, Dred [sic] made a firm bid for consideration as the best in-the-flesh band around, period.
"That album is a mesmerizing collection of exploratory guitar, haunting vocals, and dark reverb, evoking the rituals of Velvet Underground associate Angus MacLise, the psych of early Pink Floyd, and the outsider art of Jandek.
"[7] Following a move to Brattleboro, Vermont, in 2000, Dredd Foole became widely active again and has collaborated and recorded with musicians including Matt Valentine,[8] Chris Corsano,[9][10] Thurston Moore,[11] Jack Rose,[12][13] Ben Chasny,[14] Bill Nace, Paul Flaherty, Joshua, and Sunburned Hand of the Man.
Alongside hermetic lone operatives like Jandek, Sun City Girls, and Loren MazzaCane Connors, Dredd Foole's freeform take on folk song loosened shackles across the country.
"[21] Vocals Tiny Mix Tapes has written that Ireton's "voice – his most potent instrument – scrambles to the tremulous heights Tim Buckley reached in his most freaked albums, mutates into an atavistic proto-punk yowl (think Godz, Fugs, Stooges), and spills drops of Alan Wattsian philosophy (or, if you're less generous, pseudo-philosophy) on the carpet through a lysergic drawl.
"[23] Dredd Foole's vocals have been called "devolved oral emissions" and "wobbly marble-mouthisms" by Trouser Press[24] and "often dirge-y but cathartic howls of pain and loneliness" by The Noise,[25] with some reviewers drawing qualified comparisons in his approach to outsider musicians Legendary Stardust Cowboy,[26] Wild Man Fisher,[27] and Jandek.