The band is noted for their alternating instruments among each member, poetic lyrics, intense live shows, melodic arrangements, and an eclectic array of songs that vary in style from riot grrrl to grunge to piano-based indie pop.

They were eventually discovered by Chris Harris, owner of the small indie label Nice People Records based in Norman, Oklahoma.

[6] Shortly before Taking Over the World was released on Nice People Records in November 2010, Mayo and Bighorse met Exene Cervenka of the seminal punk band X after a show in Oklahoma City.

Blag Dahlia, lead singer of the notorious punk band Dwarves, mixed a version of the album which was set to be released by a startup label in the Spring of 2012.

Meanwhile, Kliph Scurlock, drummer of The Flaming Lips, became a fan of the band and offered to remix Lost Wonderfuls while a new record deal was being finalized.

The album is a mixture of punk rock, riot grrrl, folk music and twee pop influences and was well received.

Many well-known musicians and artists have praised the band, including Rosanne Cash, Sean Lennon, Django Django, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, Ty Segall, Wayne Coyne (The Flaming Lips), Kate Nash, Wavves, Lori Barbero of Babes in Toyland and the actor Viggo Mortensen.

Allmusic noted that the band had "subdued some of their twee-pop tendencies in favor of a raw, raucous, and more immediate sound" and praised the album as "brimming with creative wit, youthful abandon, emotional fervor, and classic punk spirit."

Since the release of Lost Wonderfuls, the band has garnered a considerable amount of airplay on indie and college radio stations across the United States and in certain places in Europe, particularly France.

[14] Skating Polly is often compared to bands associated with the riot grrrl movement such as Bikini Kill and Babes in Toyland, but many songs bring to mind artists such as Kimya Dawson and Beat Happening.

Skating Polly does not have a front person in the traditional sense, as both Mayo and Bighorse typically write and provide lead vocals for their own songs.

The band is known to cover other artists and has put its spin on songs by Spacemen 3, Neutral Milk Hotel, Dead Boys, Portishead, Perfume Genius, The Left Banke, Ol' Dirty Bastard, M.I.A., AC/DC, Nina Nastasia and Syd Barrett.