Jack Rabid reviewed the album for AllMusic, writing: "They just keep pumping out the frightening rhythms, so terse and vicious that they bring back good memories of not only the hardest Fugazi, but older U.S. Midwest outfits with this kind of tight, forward-springing, offbeat rhythmic attack, such as Rifle Sport, Man Sized Action, and, most of all, Rapeman and Shellac.

The last two may seem too obvious, since Steve Albini is the man behind the desk for this one -- and he turns in his best, clearest sounding, deepest production since he did the first Breeders LP -- but it's not that simple.

Club wrote that "[m]usically, The Ex is about as pretentious as The Spice Girls; its members recognize the beauty of a good hook [...] played with strange Sonic Youth tunings and scraping, squawking guitar sounds set to an ever-shifting drum beat [...] still powerful enough to get your attention.

Engineer Steve Albini has done a good job capturing the experience of the live performance; every track hums with organic energy."

"[8] Bob Brunner of Entertainment Weekly wrote that "their latest [...] is full of jagged guitars and impassioned vocals, it’s as creatively abrasive as ever (but not as sophisticated as their work with the late cellist Tom Cora).