My Brother the Cow includes numerous direct references to bands that influenced Mudhoney's sound.

The original CD release includes a 34-minute hidden track named "woC eht rehtorB yM", which consists of most of the album's preceding songs played backwards.

The song "Into Yer Shtik" received some backlash for the band as Courtney Love thought it was about her in the wake of Kurt Cobain's death.

In 2020, My Brother the Cow was included in the 4CD box set Real Low Vibe: Reprise Recordings 1992-1998.

[3] According to drummer Dan Peters, the album's title derived from Renestair E.J., saxophonist of the band Bloodloss, who was "anesthetizing himself with heavy amounts of bourbon" due to girlfriend troubles.