Despite being the absolute bastion of knowledge of anything jangle-pop and jangly adjacent that you have all grown to love (nay adore…please note I am British and therefore this is part of our self deprecating humour), I will have to stun you all by revealing that I was completely unaware of this mid to late 1980s act until such time as the diligent digging of the musical archaeologists at Firestation Records unearthed the The Cocoa Collection compilation album in August 2022.

This digital-only release completes the offering with the full Kite LP, three singles, B-Sides, and cassette demos, and perhaps provides even more of a detailed analysis of the sort of glorious irreverence that was being born from the British and Aussie indie-pop underground at the time.

Always with a bias towards the Half Man Half Biscuit lyrical bent that can squeeze every bit of total irrelevance out of life’s minutiae by delving into the sort of simplistic rhyming couplets that can rhyme ‘American Soapies’ with BMX ‘Trophies’ (as heard in Born To Shop), Captain Cocoa were probably just the wrong continent and a more extensive back catalogue from eventually becoming the same sort of cult act as their aforementioned British counterparts.

The album effectively settles into two relatively distinct vibes. Initially, tracks such as Is That You Cherry Trite?, Butterflies, Memo: All Requests for Love Must Be in Writing, and Goodbye Louise resided in the unlikely music hinterland between the trumpet-inflected jangly indie-pop of the The June Brides and a groove-inflected The Vaselines-style DIY production. Weird? Perhaps? But beguiling and swathed in originality, even for a time when every act in indie-pop circles seemed to be.

Amid stiff competition, the very best of their aesthetic is heard in the tracks that are engulfed by the C86 sound of the mid-80s and the jangly indie of the mid-90s. Here Paul Weller (Was Formerly Yours) takes on the driven The Pastels end of the C86 catalogue, whereas Pass The Time, Kite and the standout track of Linsey Wolsey cavort within a unique juxtaposition of BMX Bandits and the Television Personalities.

Similarly, Ring Me Up and Flowers, both taken from their Sparrows cassette, show this act to be a decade ahead of their times as they augment their indie-pop sound with the crystalline jangle-pop riffs of 1990s acts such as Comet Gain, Hefner, and Allo Darlin.

The band goes to great lengths on their social media and Bandcamp to make sure we fully understand that this release is not an indication that they are reforming. As such, I am glad I eventually stumbled across their brilliant back catalogue, as it is a wonderful trip down memory lane and shows what the mid-80s underground indie-pop scene consisted of.

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