More than an electric trace runs through Sylvie’s aptly titled sophomore album. This four-piece alternative rock outfit from the barren flatlands of Regina, SK has created an album that sounds as dynamic as it does conventional.



At first listen, An Electric Trace draws strong comparisons to indie acts such as Minus the Bear, Hot Water Music and the unfortunately defunct power-poppers The Anniversary, but there’s more to Sylvie’s sound than simple repetition. It’s members, Joel Passmore on vocals/guitars, second guitarist Chris Notenboom, Riva Farrell Racette on bass and Jeff Romanyk on drums, have the ability to create memorable vocal or musical hooks and couple them with driving rhythms to create a sound that is truly listener-friendly.



Each of the 12 tracks on An Electric Trace offers something different, from sweetly melodic to pointedly rhythmic and nearly everywhere in-between, all of it far removed from Smallman’s standard punk rock catalogue. Passmore’s raspy vocals and commanding delivery approach grunge status, while Farrell Racette’s wispy backing harmonies balance the sound out allowing Sylvie to hover somewhere between sweet and sour. The album’s pace remains fairly progressive throughout, proving that An Electric Trace is inexplicably beat-driven, its dynamic instrumentation often functioning only as decoration (like the unrelenting buildup of the title track). Paying this much attention to the rhythm section forces songs to be played almost exclusively on the beat. As such, An Electric Trace is simple yet effective – few musical boundaries are pushed, but it is apparent that Sylvie are quite good at what they do.



What holds Sylvie back, however, is the fact that even though this album is rather enjoyable, its sound is relatively familiar and – due to the current exponential growth and popularity of “indie” music – potentially forgettable. The members of Sylvie are talented musicians with a knack for writing solid songs of a given type that is more or less in-line with the standard sound of the day. It’s a good listen, but nothing more