This Weekend I’ll Mostly Be Listening to… Cocteau Twins, Garlands

Yes, the post-punk trawl continues. Last time it was Pauline Murray and this time that strangest of Cocteau Twins albums, Garlands. Now, Cocteau Twins have been dealt with previously, here, and their 1985 EPs. But this is a very different sort of artefact. Garlands, their debut, was released on 4AD in July 1982. In terms of personnel as well as Robin Guthrie and Elizabeth Fraser it also had the groups original bassist, Will Heggie (who went on to play with Lowlife who plied a similar sort of post-punk to varying effect). I understand Guthrie and Fraser were under 20 when this was produced.

It is fair to say this is quite distinctly different from the rest of their output. The gauzy sheets of music and remarkable vocals are here in nascent form, but they are spiky, abrasive, even angry. The influence of Siouxsie was obvious, though it’s more edgy than much of Siouxsie, that of Joy Division no less so. Yet for all that there’s something compelling about the route the group takes, it’s not simple emulation. The drum machine gives it an oddly contemporary feel, forty odd years on. The bursts of feedback hint at where the Jesus and Mary Chain went. And there’s a repetitive quality to the tracks which loop around and around again with relatively little variation that also positions them more akin almost to electronica. The tracks are expansive. On opener Blood Bitch a good minute and a half passes before there are any vocals. Wax and Wane might almost be a template for post punk, nervy bass, shards of guitar, clattering drums and eventually Frazer singing (quite literally warbling at the end of each verse). But I’m Not is quite distinctly different, the twisting guitar line is sharp, insistent, but listen to the chords for the verses and Frazer’s more restrained singing and suddenly we are hearing the future.

One can hear the places they as a group would go too. There’s no end of reverb, Fraser’s voice is harsher than on later offerings, but she never lost that ability to modulate between melodic and atonal. All told it’s an impressive initial statement of intent. And note the names – Shallow Then Hallo, Wax and Wane. Pointers to the future.

Not uniformly loved either at the time or later. I suspect that it is simply too different from the rest of their output for some. Wiki has some interesting retrospective reviews.

In a positive 2020 review, Dom Gourley of Under the Radar stated that the album “represented a year zero for alternative guitar music,” adding that “songs like ‘Wax and Wane’ and ‘But I’m Not’ undoubtedly influenced a generation of effects pedalled guitar slingers decades on.”^[15] In 2021, Mark Clifford of Seefeel praised the album’s production and use of drum machine backing: “I don’t think they get credited enough for that. Garlands, it’s basically electronic beats with noise on top.”^[20]

Garlands

Blood Bitch

Wax and Wane

But I’m Not

Shallow Then Halo

Grail Overfloweth

Wax and Wane (Live 1983)