[6] The band's name would appear to be a blended reference to the fictional "crypt-kicker five" from the Monster Mash, and the host of EC Comics's Tales From the Crypt.
[12] On December 13, 2014, CK5 played a benefit at the Brighton Bar for that legendary club's long time booker Jacko Monahan, who was battling necrotizing fasctitis.
[13] In addition to The Ramones and The Misfits, the band counts Bruce Springsteen, Roy Orbison, and Tom Petty among its influences.
Regarding this mix of influences, a writer for Punk Globe Magazine, in reviewing Rise of the Palace Depression/Darker Days, suggested that a comparison to the E Street Band is valid, and that CK5's Doo wop usage is in a more similar vein to Frank Zappa than to Frankie Valli.
[18] Other commenters have come up with "Elvis does the Monster Mash",[15] and "Jerry Lee Lewis (singing) for the Misfits";[19] a reviewer for punk fanzine Razorcake chose a somewhat more contemporary reference, writing "imagine Danzig fronting Rocket from the Crypt".
[20] Gary Wien, a New Jersey music journalist who specializes in writing about the music of his home state, included the Cryptkeeper Five's 2006 full length The Rise of the Palace Depression ("a tremendously interesting release with a sound completely its own") as one of the top 100 disks of the decade 2001-2010, alongside offerings by artists such as Bruce Springsteen, My Chemical Romance, Fountains of Wayne, and Bouncing Souls, in his book Are You Listening?
Steppin' Out Magazine/ Jersey Style columnist Josh Davidson has written that CK5 "plays a new brand of rock, drawing from some of its rawest composers like Chuck Berry, Eddie Cochran and Joey Ramone.
[28] Jose Diaz of Ink 19 magazine noted that Johnny Ott has a "Elvis-by-way-of-the Misfits" bearing, and described the band's music as having a "muscular, loud, and fast garage punk sound with rockabilly influences.