Garlands

Garlands is the debut studio album by Scottish alternative rock band Cocteau Twins, released 1 September 1982 on 4AD.[1] It peaked in the top 5 of the UK Independent Albums Chart, and received support from BBC Radio 1 radio host John Peel.[2]

Garlands
Studio album by Cocteau Twins
Released	June 1982
Recorded	1981–1982
Studio	Blackwing Studios, London, England
Genre	Gothic rock post-punk
Length	35:09
Label	4AD
Producer	Cocteau Twins Ivo Watts-Russell
Cocteau Twins chronology
Garlands (1982) Lullabies (1982)

Background

Garlands is the only album the band recorded with original bassist Will Heggie. Cindy Sharp of Cindytalk provided backup vocals on "Dear Heart", "Hearsay Please", and "Hazel".

Billboard described the album as "dark post-punk".[3] The album's sound was described in The Rough Guide to Rock as "a blend of ominous pulsating bass, stark TR808 drums, cyclical guitar and great screeching arcs of reverberating feedback, over which Liz alternated dry, brittle utterings with full-power vocal gymnastics".[4]

Sleeve

The photo on the front cover was conceived by Nigel Grierson when he was at college. It was part of a project on his Graphic Design course for alternative images for Siouxsie and the Banshees' debut album The Scream.[5] The picture was later chosen by Cocteau Twins and Ivo.

Release

The original British cassette release included four additional tracks from a John Peel radio session. The original British, Brazilian and Canadian CD releases featured the album, the Peel session and two other tracks that were recorded for an unreleased single, which was to have been the band's first release. The four Peel Session recordings were later released as BBC Sessions in 1999.

A remastered version of "Blind Dumb Deaf" was included on the 2000 compilation Stars and Topsoil, a version of "Hazel" appeared on the band's Peppermint Pig EP, released in 1983, and a remixed version of "Wax and Wane" was included on the 1985 compilation The Pink Opaque.

Reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[6]
Rolling Stone	[7]
Martin C. Strong	7/10[8]
Sounds	favourable[9]

Sounds critic Helen Fitzgerald wrote, "The fact of the matter is that the album is bloody good. A fluid frieze of wispy images made all the more haunting by Elizabeth's distilled vocal maturity, fluctuating from a brittle fragility to a voluble dexterity with full range and power".[9]

Cocteau Twins' roadie Collin Wallace recalled, "Garlands was written off in the UK as another Siouxsie copy band, and Elisabeth [Fraser] was a huge Siouxsie fan. She had huge Siouxsie tattoos which she's had lasered off since".[10] Spin wrote that the album "[sounds] like Siouxsie and the Banshees with echo".[11] The Arts Desk shared the same view: "Though they had their own voice, the debut’s debt to Siouxsie & the Banshees was apparent".[12]

In its review of the album, AllMusic was generally critical, writing that "Garlands falters due to something the band generally avoided in the future – overt repetition. [...] As a debut effort, though, Garlands makes its own curious mark, preparing the band for greater heights".[6]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Cocteau Twins (Elizabeth Fraser, Robin Guthrie, Will Heggie).

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Blood Bitch" (printed as "Blood Bath")	4:34
2.	"Wax and Wane"	4:02
3.	"But I'm Not"	2:42
4.	"Blind Dumb Deaf"	3:45
5.	"Shallow Then Halo" (printed as "Shallow Then Hallo" [sic] on the sleeve)	5:14
6.	"The Hollow Men"	5:00
7.	"Garlands"	4:30
8.	"Grail Overfloweth"	5:22

Bonus tracks

No.	Title	Length
9.	"Dear Heart [John Peel Session January 1983]"	3:38
10.	"Hearsay Please [John Peel Session January 1983]"	4:23
11.	"Hazel [John Peel Session January 1983]"	3:23
12.	"Blind Dumb Deaf [John Peel Session January 1983]"	3:42
13.	"Speak No Evil"	3:53
14.	"Perhaps Some Other Aeon"	2:57

Personnel

• Elizabeth Fraser – vocals, production
• Robin Guthrie – guitar, drum machine,[13] production
• Will Heggie – bass guitar, production

Technical

• Ivo Watts-Russell – production
• Eric Radcliffe – engineering at Blackwing Studios
• John Fryer – engineering at Blackwing Studios
• 23 Envelope – sleeve design, photography and art direction

References

1. "Cocteau Twins: 'Garlands'". 4AD website. Retrieved 2 May 2018.
2. "History". Cocteau Twins. Retrieved 6 February 2016.
3. Bambarger, Bradley (6 April 1996). "Radio Climate Could Boost Capitol's Cocteau Twins". Billboard: 14. Retrieved 2 December 2014.
4. Hall, Link; Canadine, Ian (2003). Buckley, Peter (ed.). The Rough Guide to Rock. Rough Guides. p. 212. ISBN 9781843531050. Retrieved 2 December 2014.
5. "Cocteau Twins official post 1 septembre 2017". Cocteau Twins' official facebook. 1 September 2017. Archived from the original on 22 July 2020. Retrieved 2 July 2020.
6. Raggett, Ned. "Garlands – Cocteau Twins : Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards : AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 9 September 2012.
7. Brackett, David; Hoard, Christian David, eds. (2004). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide. Simon and Schuster. p. 174. ISBN 9780743201698. Retrieved 2 December 2014. cocteau twins garlands.
8. "[Unknown title]". The Essential Rock Discography – Volume 1: 222. 2006.
9. Fitzgerald, Helen (1982). "[Garlands review]". Sounds.
10. King, Richard (2012). How Soon is Now?: The Madmen and Mavericks who made Independent Music 1975-2005. Faber & Faber. ISBN 0571243908.
11. Hermes, Will (September 2003). "Reissues". Spin. Retrieved 2 December 2014.
12. Tyler, Kieron (18 March 2018). "Reissue CDs Weekly: Cocteau Twins Spiffy upgrades of the sonic sorcerers' 'Head Over Heels' and 'Treasure'". TheArtsdesk.com. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
13. "Equipment Notes". Robin Guthrie. Retrieved 7 February 2016.

External links

• Garlands on the band's official website
• Garlands at Discogs (list of releases)