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. Outstanding track." 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? It's really warm, simple, touching, saying in not so many words that friendship isn’t about words." In
Disc & Music Echo,
Penny Valentine wrote of the single, "Whither the progressive Beach Boys? [...] If The Beach Boys are as bored as they sound, they should stop bothering [...] They are no longer the brilliant Beach Boys. They are grey and they are making sad little grey records." 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." Dave Swanson of
Ultimate Classic Rock noted the song's "calming nature." ==Personnel==