The theme of the song's lyric stems from a moment in Concannon's childhood when his father picked him up from school in a JCB digger (or backhoe loader) and his reflections on how his peers bullied him for having dyslexia.

Following several praised performances of the song, Nizlopi decided to release "JCB" as the album's second single through FDM Records in June 2005, but it did not make a major commercial impact.

Soon after its release, animation company MonkeeHub created and commissioned a music video later the same year, which further propelled the track into the public eye.

In an interview with Songwriting magazine, Luke Concannon explained that he and bandmate John Parker practiced writing songs separately.

[9] Parker describes "JCB" as a "heartfelt, family-oriented song", while Concannon states that it "taps into lots of deep emotions".

[6] In a 2015 Twitter comment, Concannon confirmed that the bypass mentioned in the song is the A46 road, which services Leamington Spa, where the band formed.

[10][11][12] British columnist James Masterton referred to "JCB" as one of the most "welcome, charming and downright cute" tracks to top the UK chart.

He dismissed the song as resembling an attempt by English indie punk band Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine to write a ballad.

[5] The Irish Times writer Kevin Courtney commented that "JCB" was a good choice for a Christmas single, noting its "fireside melody", theme about childhood nostalgia and innocence, and references to toys.

[3] John Winters of British webzine Drowned in Sound rated the song 7 out of 10, referring to the track as the "sinister kind of niceness" and noting its similarities to the UK Christmas number-one single of 2003: "Mad World" by Michael Andrews and Gary Jules.

He also questioned the allusions to Transformers and Zoids, labelling them "uncomfortabl[e]", but stated that the song was the only logical choice for the Christmas number-one single.

[14] The Digital Fix reviewer John Donnelly gave the song a 6 out of 10, comparing its acoustic qualities to those of American singer-songwriter Tracy Chapman.

[4] Simon Webb of RoomThirteen wrote that the song gave "sensitivity" to the Christmas music rush and named Nizlopi a "band to watch" in 2006.

[6] According to British music and film retailer HMV, "JCB" marginally outsold Westlife's "When You Tell Me That You Love Me" during its first day of release, although sales of the latter were expected to grow over the week.

Other animators who contributed to the video were David Crawford, who drew the cows, and Nick Cooper, who created the opening scene.

After he leaves, the camera zooms in on a drawing of a yellow digger occupied by a young boy and his father on a piece of ruled paper.

During the rap segments and final chorus, the digger sprouts wings, a rear engine, and an umbrella, then cruises down the road, eventually lifting off and driving through the sky.