The album marked a change in the band's sound, described as a depressive mix between experimental rock and synth-pop.

[6]Stewart contributed the title track to a tribute CD, The Ash Gray Proclamation, for author Dennis Cooper.

[7] The album's title track was inspired by the Iceberg Slim novel Mama Black Widow and describes an abusive relationship between a muscle-worshiping Stewart and a hyper-masculine man.

The album does not contain a single hiccup or yawn-- no extraneous noise, no potentially offputting histrionics, no throwaways and no dull moments."

[3] Robert Christgau of The Village Voice panned the album, writing, "The musical parsimony, cultural insularity, moral certitude, and histrionic affectations of these lo-fi artier-than-thous promise indie ideologues whole lifetimes of egoistic irrelevance.

"[15] Stylus Magazine's Akiva Gottlieb wrote, "Obviously, Stewart has a penchant for self-examination—some of it brilliant and incisive—but [their] work is also obnoxiously self-indulgent.

isn't their most violent effort, but it's their most scouring; a place where mortar-round drums pound down on rolling bass and chiming guitars, unsubtly conveying the painful insight that some dreams have to be razed, not realized.

Brandon Stosuy of Pitchfork described the album as "brilliant" and a blend of "circus music and shattered death disco".