Quatrain

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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, Rovi