It was the follow-up to the band's album Too High to Die and was the last Meat Puppets album with bassist Cris Kirkwood (until his reunion on 2007's Rise to Your Knees) and drummer Derrick Bostrom (until 2019's Dusty Notes).

A video was filmed for the song "Scum", directed by Dave Markey.

The cover art "no joke" used on the album was originally created by Curt Kirkwood's daughter, which the band chose to use as the album's title and cover art.

as an "average" Meat Puppets record, explaining that although the songs were "competent", it lacked the "wild spark" and "bizarre sense of humour" that characterised their 1980s work.

[3] Eric Flaum of American music publication Rolling Stone was more praising, awarding the album 4-out-of-5 stars and stating that No Joke!