 Cocteau Twins Between Treasure and Victorialand, the Cocteaus put out three EPs, smartly avoiding what would have been a rather less-than-eternal full-length. The music they made in 1985 began to break out of the dense fog of purgatorial chorale music, though they were far from "pop" just yet. "Pink Orange Red," later given an acoustic treatment on Twinlights, is one of their epics – one of the songs to play for someone who is skeptical about the Cocteaus (though personally I find that conversion to this band is impossible: you either instantly love them or you will always be completely uninterested). "Ribbed and Veined" is a rare case of the Twins sounding exactly like what was going on in the real world at the same time: it could be, like, track eight on a Sade record. Not a bad thing, of course. "Plain Tiger" sounds like a Treasure outtake … would have been filler on that album, but it's nice to have here. "Sultitan Itan" is one of the more forgettable songs in their catalog, though again, nice enough. While not their best work, the 1985 EPs broadened the palette and created a bridge between the "old stuff" and the "new stuff." Definitely not a good first Cocteau purchase (though many fans swear by it), but one you'll need once you're on the spike.
Review by Dagwood Donnell |