Stephen Thomas Erlewine of "Allmusic", however, gave the album a rating of 2.5 out of 5 stars, noting that while the Daddies pulled off "reasonably infectious" tunes, the modernist lyrics had lent "Zoot Suit Riot" a "condescending Gen-X attitude, as well as a lack of understanding about what made swing fun", writing the album off as a "smirking hipster joke, only without any humor and very little music". The jazz critic Scott Yanow, in his 2000 book "Swing!", labeled the Daddies as the perfect "whipping boy for the Retro Swing movement", noting, "The Daddies sound as if they are a punk rock band who has chosen to masquerade as swing...the rhythm section has difficulty swinging, the vocals are often profane...the music, although excitable in spots, usually comes dangerously close to camp."