feature a collective assortment of varied and often diametrically opposed genres of music. Some of the musical styles the band has experimented with include blues, country, disco, Dixieland, flamenco, folk, glam rock, hardcore punk, jump blues, lounge, psychedelic pop, rhythm and blues, reggae, rockabilly, soca, soul, western swing and zydeco. As opposed to playing fusions, the Daddies perform each genre separately, contrasting one style against another so that the album's musical texture continually changes. Perry has explained that the group's "detournement" of using vastly different genres is both a means for band experimentation and evolution beyond their typically swing and ska-oriented live shows, as well as an artistic choice, lending each song a distinctive musical personality and using certain genres to effectively fit – or ironically contradict – the tone of the lyrics. Lyrical Steve Perry is the Daddies' sole lyricist, and writes the majority of his songs in a fictional narrative format he credits as being influenced by Randy Newman, Ray Davies and Jarvis Cocker, often told about or through the unreliable perspective of downtrodden characters struggling against adversity. Recurring themes in the Daddies' lyrics include sex, death, working class life, class consciousness, alcoholism, family dysfunction, loneliness and social alienation, frequently utilizing humor and satire. Perry often incorporates commentary on contemporary American politics into his music, such as addressing issues relating to the financial crisis of 2007–2008 on 2013's White Teeth, Black Thoughts and exploring themes of race and class during the Donald Trump administration on 2019's Bigger Life. The Register-Guard has described Perry's lyrics as "ribald [and] often despairing", "[probing] the underbelly of society, stabbing at oppressors such as ... the pressure to conform", while The New York Times has lauded them as "vivid poetry" containing "an inventiveness missing from most of the other swing bands' lyrics". The Daddies have often been criticized for their seeming juxtaposition of lurid subject matter and profanity with jazz and swing music, though Perry has defended the band's predilection towards "darker" lyricism and visuals, calling to attention his interest in the era's film noir and avant-garde artistic movements. A prominent example of this includes the two music videos for the Daddies' hit single "Zoot Suit Riot", which – in addition to being written about the 1943 race riots – both featured pervasive surrealist imagery inspired by the films of Luis Buñuel, specifically his 1929 short Un Chien Andalou. "We wanted to be