[9] An a cappella mix was sold as a vinyl single backed with Al Jardine's Beach Boys reunion song "Don't Fight the Sea" for the charity of 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami in April 2011.

[10] Upon release, Cash Box spoke positively of the song, writing, "Barbershop harmonizing to a soft rock backdrop provides the Beach Boys with a departure from their 'Wild Honey'/'Good Vibrations' style.

Easy-throbbing waltz tempo and a unique vocal sound cast a new type of magical spell for the team, one that should have them rising rapidly on the best seller charts.

"[11] In its 1968 review of the Friends album, Rolling Stone singled out the title track as a highlight, writing, "[It is] a more mature (in that it lacks their usual immediacy) evocation of the surfer 'pack' or 'club' vision — why go out with a girl when you can go cruising with the guys on Saturday nights?

"[13] Retrospectively, biographer David Leaf praised the song's "fine melody and lovely production" and wrote, "The vocal arrangement of this track let the world know that Brian was back mixing his magical harmonic brew.

"[1] Donald Guarisco of Allmusic commented, "This mellow, lovely track is a good example of the Beach Boys' late-'60s output: it is far less musically complex than 'California Girls' or 'Wouldn't It Be Nice' but possesses a homespun charm all its own.