Panel from The American Air Forces comic book issue #8, 1945
I don't own any Cocteau Twins albums, and I've been meaning to rectify this. The one thing I do own by the Cocteaus is Lullabies to Violaine Vol. 1, a collection of the singles and EPs from the first half of the band's career. It is an amazing collection, and I'm glad I made it my point of introduction to the band, but I'm not really sure where to go from here. The early stuff is a little too goth for me, although I'm not too bothered by the heavy '80s production aesthetic that comes across in most of their work.
From what I've heard so far, "Sugar Hiccup" was where the Cocteau Twins really started to hit their stride. It was on the 1983 Head Over Heels record, but this version is the 12" single version that I have from Lullabies to Violaine. It hits you over the head with some '80s sounds right up front - the intro features a mock choir and some drum pads that would be hilarious if they didn't fit the arrangement of the song so well. Because vocalist Liz Fraser takes some real liberties with phonetic rules in her singing style, the title phrase is the only sequence of recognizable English words I can make out, but I can let go and appreciate the sound of her voice without trying to interpret the sounds.
Maybe I should start out with Head Over Heels and work forward through the Cocteaus albums. However, I hear that a lot of people consider Heaven of Las Vegas to be the band's best work, so that might be a good starting point as well.
"Sugar Hiccup" by the Cocteau Twins
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