The involvement of frequent
Neil Young producer David Briggs, who produced and engineered
Quatrain's sole record, is about the most interesting thing about this self-titled LP. It's very much a record of its time and place -- late-'60s Los Angeles -- in its mix of folk-rock, hard rock, and psychedelia, without any of those styles being particularly dominant. Frankly, however, the material is mediocre, and the way the band plays is competent but run-of-the-mill. Better than the hard rock tracks are the ones that lean in other directions, like "Unconquered Islands," which has a spaced-out British psychedelic feel somewhat akin to
Arthur Brown (though without as distinguished vocals or instrumentation). This and a few other cuts, like "Try to Live Again," can also bring to mind some of the things
Noel Redding did outside of
the Jimi Hendrix Experience. "Fields of Love" has a nice sunny hippie folk-rock feel a little akin to some of late-'60s
Love, and the beatific "Rollin'" sounds more like a Bay Area band than an L.A. one. That still leaves a bunch of less attractive hard rockers to wade through, however, and the vocals are never a strong suit on a set that never seems to find sure-footed direction. ~ Richie Unterberger