The late Clive Barnes, theater critic for the New York Post, called the Cohorts "a pure, salt-watered delight," while Mary Cornatzer of Raleigh's News and Observer described King Mackerel as "a musical Valentine to coastal life." Cornatzer said that the songs "deal with things anybody who's ever been to the coast can identify with - pier fishing, joy riding on the strand, hurricanes and living on the sound side."