Friendship Caveman Wakes Up
Friendship's Caveman Wakes Up opens like a half-remembered morning: sleepy, alert and full of small, strange details that lodge long after the record ends. Across five professional reviews the critical consensus lands firmly in appreciative territory, with a 73.6/100 consensus score from five reviews that praise the album's slow-burning melodies, darkly tinged colors and literary lyricism while noting occasional lapses in cohesion.
Critics consistently point to a handful of standout tracks as the record's anchors. “Tree of Heaven” and “Love Vape” earn repeated praise for their bluesy riffs, psychedelic flourishes and instrumental texture, while “Hollow Skulls”, “Betty Ford” and the title track “Caveman Wakes Up” are highlighted for marrying Wriggins' conversational, often ragged baritone with pointed, image-rich lines. Reviewers note how the band folds songwriter lineage and leftfield Americana references into ramshackle country-rock arrangements, balancing nostalgia and place with everyday observations and a sense of dread.
While several critics celebrate the album's intimate textures and moments of melodic payoff, some flag the sequencing and patchwork nature of the collection as impediments to full cohesion. The consensus suggests that the best songs on Caveman Wakes Up reward close attention: they reveal a songwriter comfortable with experimentation and small-town detail, offering respite and uncanny familiarity in equal measure. For those wondering whether Caveman Wakes Up is worth listening to, professional reviews agree it delivers memorable highlights even as it refuses easy summaries.
Critics' Top Tracks
The standout songs that made critics take notice
Caveman Wakes Up
1 mention
General album sound (ties to influences)
1 mention
"There’s this leftfield take on Americana music"— The Spill Magazine
Tree of Heaven
4 mentions
""I have chilled on that stoop before," frontman Dan Wriggins sings on "Tree of Heaven,""— Pitchfork
There’s this leftfield take on Americana music
Track Ratings
How critics rated each track, relative to this album (0-100). Only tracks that made critics feel something are rated.
Salvage Title
Tree of Heaven
Betty Ford
Free Association
Hollow Skulls
Artex
Love Vape
Wildwood in January
Resident Evil
All Over the World
Fantasia
What Critics Are Saying
Deep insights from 6 critics who reviewed this album
Critic's Take
On Caveman Wakes Up, Friendship turn quotidian detail into strange, tender anthems, and the best tracks - especially “Tree of Heaven” and “Love Vape” - do the heavy lifting. The record luxuriates in small moments, from the deafeningly bluesy riff of “Tree of Heaven” to the psychedelic flute and groovy bass that make “Love Vape” a B-side standout. Dan Wriggins' voice sometimes bleats and cracks, but that roughness sells the album's warped profundity and slow-burning melodies. This is a ramshackle triumph that rewards patience and pays off most memorably on those standout songs.
Key Points
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The best song, “Love Vape”, stands out for its psychedelic flute intro and the grooviest bassline on the album.
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The album's core strength is finding warped profundity in mundane details and folding experimental flourishes into songs.
Themes
Critic's Take
Friendship's Caveman Wakes Up finds its strongest moments in the album's rockier, communal bursts, with the best tracks being “Resident Evil”, “Tree of Heaven” and the latter half of “Wildwood in January”. Mark Moody writes in a measured, observant voice that prizes texture and atmosphere - pointing to the guitars poking and prodding on “Resident Evil” and the martial stomp and atonal violin of “Tree of Heaven” as the album's levelling moments. The record balances black, bitter realism with brief melodic respite, so listeners searching for the best songs on Caveman Wakes Up should start with “Resident Evil” and “Tree of Heaven”.
Key Points
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“Resident Evil” is best for its standout, Crazy Horse-like guitars and matched dread in vocals.
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The album's core strengths are textured instrumentation and a balance of bleak realism with melodic respite.
Themes
Critic's Take
Friendship's Caveman Wakes Up is presented as a quietly brilliant leftfield take on Americana, the kind of record that rewards close listening and points to standout moments like “Caveman Wakes Up” and echoes of Lenderman-era intimacy. Ljubinko Zivkovic's voice here is admiring and measured, noting how Dan Wriggins and his band fold influences from Will Oldham to Talk Talk into something singular. The review highlights the album's darkly tinged colors and musical connections, which make tracks linger as the best songs on Caveman Wakes Up. Ultimately the record is praised for its distinct sound and craft, positioning its strongest tracks as exemplars of a thoughtful, referential Americana.
Key Points
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The titular mood and referential songwriting make the album's standout moments feel both familiar and distinct.
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The album's core strengths are its leftfield Americana approach, layered influences, and a darkly tinged, singular sound.
Themes
Critic's Take
Friendship's Caveman Wakes Up is at once sleepy and alert, a record that lives between dream and alarm clock, where tracks like “Betty Ford” and “Hollow Skulls” stand out for combining bleary poetry with muscular rhythms. Sterdan's voice is wry and descriptive, noting how shambolic guitars and flute pads expand country-rock's borders while Dan Wriggins' ragged baritone knits the songs together. If you search for the best songs on Caveman Wakes Up, the review points to “Betty Ford” as a vivid centerpiece and “Hollow Skulls” as a notable counterpoint, each marrying experimentation with sincere songwriting. Overall the record is praised for its substantive lyricism and adventurous arrangements, a collection equal parts homage and restless invention.
Key Points
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The best song, “Betty Ford”, is highlighted for its vivid imagery and drum-solo fade that exemplify the album's adventurous spirit.
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The album's core strengths are literary lyrics, experimental country-rock arrangements, and Dan Wriggins' distinctive ragged baritone.
Themes
Critic's Take
Friendship’s Caveman Wakes Up finds its best moments in intimate, textural songs like “Hollow Skulls” and “All Over the World”, where Dan Wriggins’ conversational vocals and the band’s instrumental interplay really land. The record’s strengths lie in Wriggins’ succinct, image-rich lines and Peter Gill’s call-and-response guitar that make tracks such as “Betty Ford” and “Free Association” stand out. Yet the album’s patchworked, abrupt sequencing prevents these best tracks from coalescing into a full, consistent statement. Overall, the best tracks on Caveman Wakes Up are those that balance Wriggins’ lyricism with distinctive instrumental color, yielding the record’s most memorable moments.
Key Points
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Hollow Skulls is best because Wriggins’ vocal phrasing and the breathy descent create the album’s most affecting moment.
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The album’s core strengths are literary, image-rich lyrics and distinctive instrumental textures that make individual tracks memorable.