It opened the recording career of the Stranglers MK II, with Paul Roberts on vocals and John Ellis on guitar.

The band returned to a purer, less "produced" sound; the horns have departed and the songs have a less-constrained, harder edge.

[citation needed] Styles vary from ballads such as "Southern Mountains" and "Grand Canyon" to the fast-paced "Sugar Bullets" and "Brainbox".

[7] The North American version of this album (with a white, rather than dark grey, cover) contained three extra tracks ("Coffee Shop", "Vicious Circles" and "So Uncool"), which were originally B-sides in the UK.

[8] The follow-up single, "Sugar Bullets", failed to chart.