When Cocteau Twins released their debut album, Garlands, in 1982, their unique sonic signature immediately marked out guitarist Robin Guthrie as a new kind of guitar hero – a player who seemed to have traded traditional, blues-based pentatonic riffing and soloing for minimalist soundscapes.
As a result, their music was simultaneously spacey and spatial; Guthrie created vast canyons of delay-drenched arpeggios that provided the backdrop for Elizabeth Fraser’s singular vocal stylings.
