Brian's one excellent lyrical contribution, and the album's standout track, is Busy Doing Nothing. Set to a bossa nova beat, it marries childlike simplicity and subtle sophistication in a way that's reminiscent of a Daniel Johnston song. In it Brian describes how he hasn't really been doing much of anything of late, and simply invites a friend to come visit. The lyrics give directions to his house.

The rest of this album is pretty great, in terms of simple, happy pop music. The title track is like the theme song to a 70s tv show. Wake the World and Be Here In the Morning make for a nice early 70s light rock one-two punch; and with good lyrics from Al Jardine.

But that's the thing about Friends. Al, Mike, Carl, Brian, Dennis, and, by this point, Bruce--all chipped in with music and lyrics. Mike Love, it's well established, is an incorrigible jackass. His song on this album, called Anna Lee The Healer, an earnest song about a magical faith healer (which is actually great musically, as the music was written by Brian), stinks up the place a little bit. But as silly and cheesy as those lyrics are, they're still nowhere near as bad as his lowest, most out-of-touch, point, the utterly retarded Student Demonstration Time, from Surf's Up. That said, the combined efforts of thes friends make for a surprisingly solid listen; surprising that, if you're a Beach Boys fan who's thoroughly committed Pet Sounds and Smile to memory and just need a little more, it actually does the trick.