Despite the album's commercial success, "Zoot Suit Riot" met with largely mixed reactions from mainstream critics. Of the positive reviews, "The Los Angeles Times", comparing albums by the most popular groups of the swing revival, chose the Daddies as having "the most effective music for the dance fad of the moment", citing the band's "suggestive lyrics and occasionally interesting musical textures" as their most distinguishing quality. "The New York Times" described the Daddies as "one of the few neo-swing bands that can win over a skeptic with their rhythm section", noting Perry's lyricism as having "an inventiveness missing from most of the other swing bands' lyrics".