Although it was Cocteau Twins' first record, by 2 August 1982 Garlands had reached number 14 on the UK Indie Albums chart. Sounds journalist Helen Fitzgerald wrote: "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."
However, the band's roadie Collin Wallace recalled that "Garlands was written off in the UK as another Siouxsie copy band, and Elisabeth [Fraser] was a huge Siouxsie fan." Spin wrote that the album "[sounds] like Siouxsie and the Banshees with echo and smeared mascara." 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".
Track listing
Personnel
;Cocteau Twins
- Elizabeth Fraser – vocals, production
- Robin Guthrie – guitar, drum machine, production
- Will Heggie – bass guitar, production
with:
- Gordon Sharp – backing vocals on "Dear Heart", "Hearsay Please" and "Hazel"
; 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