[5] Sally Timms and Rico Bell joined the band prior to the recording sessions.

[6][7] It contains cover versions of Don Gibson's "Sweet Dreams" and Hank Williams's "Alone & Forsaken", which borrows music from the Velvet Underground's "The Black Angel's Death Song".

[10] In "Big Zombie", the narrator turns to cat food, rather than alcohol, due to his alienation.

[11] Trouser Press wrote that Sally Timms's "crystalline tone [provides] just the right touch of unflinching world-weariness between [Tom] Greenhalgh's going-down-slow croon and [Jon] Langford's beery bawl.

[19] AllMusic called the album "one of the Mekons' finest efforts," writing that "Hello Cruel World" "is a grinding post-punk downer that slowly accelerates into a desperate, hoarse cry with no noticeable country or folk elements.