The single includes a live performance of the group's 1992 song "Safari" and a cover of Nerf Herder's theme from the Buffy the Vampire Slayer television series.
[9] The session, which took place in July 2002 at Track Record Studios in North Hollywood,[10] was fit in during a short break between a European and a US concert tour.
[10][n 1] The sound of "Son of Three" has been described as "dark punk",[6] and elsewhere as a "garage symphony of bubblegum grunge, woo-woo gurly harmonies and body-snatching sci-fi eeriness".
[11][13] At some point after the July recording session, Kim Deal telephoned Buffy musical supervisor John King to ask whether the Breeders could be on the show.
[14][16] The final track on the "Son of Three" single, "Safari", written by Deal,[17] was recorded in concert at the Melkweg music venue in Amsterdam in June 2002 as part of the Leidsekade Live radio show.
AllMusic's Heather Phares called the Title TK track "sweet [and] playfully spiky",[1] while Will Bryant of Pitchfork cited it as a "standout" of the album, that "get[s] the job done".
[22] PopMatters' Matt Cibula reported "rockin'... hard" to the song and commented on the originality of the lyrics, such as the line “If I find the door / I am the son of Go”.
[5] Richard Garnett of Leeds Music Scene similarly praised the track, commenting that "the beefy descending bass line is enough to send shivers".