After recording three singles, "In Purgatory", "Red Sleeping Beauty" and "Frans Hals", I Am a Wallet demonstrates jangly guitar pop reminiscent of The Byrds.

While this form of indie pop was widespread in '80s underground Britain, McCarthy brought left-wing politics to the genre.

Religion is attacked in "God Made the Virus", while the return of Victorian values espoused by Margaret Thatcher is compared to medieval oppression in "In the Dark Times".

Johnny Dee of Underground magazine gave the album a 3/3 review, naming it as his favourite record of the year.

[4] On the album cover of the 2007 re-release he writes that McCarthy "are partly to blame for the realisation of the Manic Street Preachers".