Pemberton Roach of AllMusic called Lockjaw a "wonderful reminder of the original spirit of ska-punk," elaborating that "Rather than celebrate the meathead/frat boy misogyny and overly simplistic anarchistic politics that have plagued a lot of "third-wave" ska and punk-pop, Dance Hall Crashers choose to throw a big ol' party.

"[5] Trouser Press considered the album "a marvelous surge of mature and catchy power pop accented with punk juice and set — almost incidentally — to a breathless bluebeat.

"[6] Music critic Gina Arnold referred to the dual vocals of Elyse Rogers and Karine Deniké as "...(being) in a manner reminiscent of the '80s group Bananarama."

[9] A 2024 limited re-release of the album, referred to by the band as a '29+1⁄2th anniversary release,' includes two unreleased songs: "American Dream" and "Footsteps".

The re-release also includes a previously unreleased song, "Punk Rock Boy", along with "Truly Comfortable" from their 1998 EP Blue Plate Special.