"Egyptian Shumba" is a fast-paced, two-chord[1] pop song in the tradition of the fad dance hits that were popular during the 1950s and 1960s, such as "The Twist", "Mashed Potato Time" and "The Loco-Motion".

[2] It opens with a "pseudo-Middle Eastern"[3] clarinet riff that has been compared to the use of the electric organ in garage-rock,[2] and was presumably inspired by Jimmy Gilmer & the Fireballs' "Sugar Shack", the highest-charting single of 1963.

[4][5][10] Nitsuh Abebe of Pitchfork wrote: "The Tammys bop hard and bratty, but by the chorus they're literally growling, barking, and squealing like sexed-up hyenas; in the bridge you can hear them shudder and jerk their way into a frenzy.

"[14] However, Jaime Cristóbal of Jenesaispop noted that the track's sound and energy "undoubtedly originated not so much from a sudden proto-punk spirit but rather from an attempt to achieve a novelty hit.

"[4] In 2006, Pitchfork placed "Egyptian Shumba" at number 177 on its list of the 200 Best Songs of the 1960s, with Nitsuh Abebe writing in its entry: "It's not just that this girl group's gone wilder than any garage band on the list—it's that they're possessed.

"[2] Likewise, Keith Harris wrote in the Seattle Weekly that the Tammys' "squiggly harmonies and delirious yelps seem to point toward Rough Trade punks like Liliput and the Raincoats",[21] and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Scott Mervis called the track a "riot grrrl prototype".

[18] Several critics have taken the song as a precursor to the work of new wave band the B-52's,[2][21][12] with Billboard's Joe Lynch noting that the Tammys "successfully combined musical kitsch with unhinged screaming 15 years before [their] debut.

"[20] "Egyptian Shumba" was covered by American indie rock band Black Kids in 2008, with frontman Reggie Youngblood calling it "quite possibly the most punk thing I've ever heard in my life".