As part of their perceived artistic mission to expand the musical tastes of their listeners, they have often played and recorded covers of well-known songs in a style radically different from the original versions.

Examples include polka versions of Jimi Hendrix's "Purple Haze" and The Doors' "People are Strange", The Rolling Stones' "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" as a cha-cha, and "Sixteen Tons" as a cumbia.

In a 1995 feature in The Santa Fe New Mexican, band cofounder Carl Finch described Brave Combo's influence as a polka band with rock styles as an earnest way to escape an increasingly corporate cultural landscape, lamenting-[3] 'Rock had been removed from the common people' he said 'and musically I wanted what I do to have depth, I started listening to polka and ethnic records I'd find at Target six for $5 — nothing could beat that.

Among the best, he soon discovered, were names like Larry Chesky and his big band polka sound, Norwegian accordion virtuoso Andrew Walter (“exciting intense” is Finch’s assessment), and Eddie Blazonczyk, the “Godfather” of Chicago’s Polish community.

[6][7] In naming Denton, Texas, the "Best Music Scene" for 2008, Paste magazine cited Brave Combo as the "Grand Pooh-Bah of Denton bands" and said that "Brave Combo, is in many ways the template from which all the rest are cut: eclectic and artistically ambitious, with a high degree of musicianship and a strong DIY ethic.