Sefronia.com
Sibyl Vane is based in Pau and its name is based on the suicidal fiancée of Dorian Gray in the Oscar Wilde masterpiece... A pretty cohérent choice, knwoing the band shares with the irish writer a certain taste for decadence and representation.
On stage, images and movies help turning their show in real artistic performances. The visual aspect is very develloped in Sibyl Vane's music, which is quite silent and oppresing most of time..
To achieve this, no need to turn the amps up to 11 : with the precision of a surgeon, the band plays delicate and wicked notes, and can be compared in this way to the "Seventeen Seconds" period of The Cure in the track "Interlude". "Disligado" reminds of Tortoise before it reaches climaxes of electric tension, vertiginous and held firmly at the same time (...).
If Sibyl Vane spins its web out of electronic obsession ("Autophage") and mesmerizing guitars, the band allows itself a half-pop experience with "The Dress Code". The voice is sensual and calm, melancholic but not resigned...

If we sometimes miss the spark that would have achieve the wished feeling of danger, the 5 tracks of "Pret a porter" - well (self) produced and quite noticed by specialized medias - worth to be listened carefully.
Filipe Francisco Carreira

Elegy
Recorded in 2001, the 5 tracks e.p "Pret a porter" is only released this year, because of the time it took the band to raise the funds necessary to the release of the record.
When the electronic and minimalist intro reminds us of the french band Frigo, the rest of the e.p is closer to bands such as Ganger, 18th Dye, Guapo, Mogwai, or even to Sabot, regarding to the structure of the songs. To be clearer, i'd say Sibyl Vane's music is full of emotions, fuelled by arhythmic beats, dissonances and melodies quite typical of movements like post-rock or tortured emo-rock (not as noisy as Sleepers or Hint, and less abstract than Sister Iodine). They know how to mix it all and remaining accessible to a wider audience.
So they could be compared ta Bastard or Ulan Bator (maybe less mature and achieved, but i must insist again on the fact that this e.p is 2 years old).
This 5 tracks e.p leaves us hungry for more, in spite of its 30 mns lenghth. At this point of the review we should question ourselves on the point of playing a kind of music that remained very underground years ago... the answer is given by the surprising song "Your Weight" that blends together all the mentioned influences and a kind of wicked "avant-prog" close to thinking Plague or Art Bears.
Wishing this quartet will go on exploring new horizons and didn't take so many time to release a forthcoming album that we're already waiting for impatiently...
Francois Marlier

Premonition.fr
Guitars, bass, drums, samples and keyboards, five basic elements for five profound and destabilizing tracks. Sibyl Vane, a band from Pau-France, gives birth to "Prêt à Porter" a first e.p full of promises, somewhere betwenn dark and minimalist electro instrumental pieces, wild noisy music and melancholic pop-rock.
Every song explores a very peculiar universe, but this dandy quartet never loses itself and shows a deep personality and obvious creativity.
Catherine Fagnot


Positiverage.com
Hidden behind a name borrowed from a novel of Oscar Wilde, Sibyl Vane will not remain unknown for a long time.
The group officially releases today its 5 tracks EP "Pret a porter", already published in CD-R last year. It’s the occasion for us to discover an interresting quartet (accompanied with a person in charge of the video) which plays the tightrope walkers between an intricate pop, a rhythmical post-rock, and sober but pleasant electro abnormalities. It is moreover on an instrumental of harpsichord electro that opens this reflexion on " the dictatorship of beauty ". The piece is a little bit long, but the entrance is a real success. The continuation shows with the very good song "Disligado" that the base of their culture stays well and truly rock. We are transported, with big pleasure, directly between Chicago and New York. We can even notice the voice of Lydia Lunch over the noisy end of the track.

Sibyl Vane evolves in an experimental pop cultivated by groups as Radiohead or A Certain Ratio, even if the application remains different. A kind of pop-music that would be wide-opened on strange atmospheres and melancholic poetry. A precarious balance between mainstream and musical elitism. And if everything is not completed (we shall regret a little the length of certain tracks), the mixture gives a rather stable result which makes us discover a creative and elegant band. Two rare enough qualities...
[mg]

LMA / Multiprises
Coiling up in the climatic current of the " pop - progressive - electro-rock " inspiration, “Pret a porter”, 1st album of this french quartet, can’t fail to impress by its cohesion and coherence.
Free from the radio-format imperatives, these five "short films" pull us in a polluted and alienated world, between the hypnotic obsession and the led astray dandyism. A spotless world, where vacuity of appearances invites only better in the malpractice of the codes.
SIBYL VANE: the decadent class.
S.C

Passion Rock
The cd sleeve informs rather well on the atmosphere that the music conveys. The whole is well anchored in its mould and in spite of the coldness we can feel, the music of Sibyl Vane mixes all kinds of emotions.
The visual component of art is a major element for the band, not only for the inlay-sleeve of the CD but also in concert since assembled video collages and slides are screened while the group plays.
Immerged in a psychedelic and hypnotic universe with Autophage, Sybil Vane pulls out a beautiful card and we will soon realize that the deck that the band holds in hand is made of very different cards, but all of the same quality. The tension and the attention goes up gradually in Autophage. Always hypnotized, we’re left astonished that the matches leave in smoke in a kind of mislaying rather than lighting the wick which was with range of their flames, but all this is but a timebomb that will explode a few minutes later.

Disligado is a lighter song, the drums makes its first appearance and opens the ball with a falsely shy guitar which grows more and more confident as the song unfolds. The tension is always here but the music evolves in a far less electronic atmosphere. Then things change. The music gently follows its way again, but it was without counting on the explosive anger of Lydia Lunch, supported by the claiming voice of Bernard Cabarrou.

The eponymous song The Dress Code contains the most part of the lyrics of the ep (the other songs only including a single sentence). It begins like a murmur then the voices of Eddy Crampes and of Bernard Cabarrou unite to explain us in a rather poetic and puzzling way what The Dress Code is. Their voices can make in the devilish low or in a high-pitched angelic tone and thus take us from the ground to the sky. Shivers on the spine guaranteed!

Interlude seems to occur in the ocean’s depths. Plenitude and calm which reign there impregnate us and from time to time a bubble of air escapes from our lungs.

While waiting for the album (unfortunately not scheduled yet), you can download three unreleased tracks on the official website of the band.
Melody

adcouvrirabsolument.fr.st
Sibyl Vane scrambles us. Walking to Dorian Gray’s to hide behind the diaphanous beauty of a top-model, losing us definitively between black and white, in a reflecting and precious grey.
The opening is hypnotic. A kind of robotic attack by infectious slags, a Autophage that ate up himself completely. Delivering an “undulatory” post-rock'n'roll, Sibyl vane couldn’t but being devoted to Disligado, a 60’s Tortoise or a Mogwai locked in a play-room as an intro, with an angry and vulgar riot girl entrance. A punk cavalcade in a cloud of dust.
As it is a question of “pret a porter”, the vestimentary code is detailed, he is twisted and simple, a post rockish code without a single tear or bad seam. A classical and deeply elegant framework to a song that spins round and tound itself to finally turns into a pop master piece.
A fashion “défilé” always ends with the figurehead of the collection, the wedding dress. The song The Dress Code would be the wedding dress of this album.
Before leaving us, an Interlude coming from the heart of gaïa or summoning Final Fantasy ghosts leads us to Your Weight, a track that leaves a bitter taste of prog-rock in the mouth. A dress that could have been designed by John Rafale (you know, the one that clothes the fat ones) whereas until there Sibyl Vane cut to measure for thin and tall beauties. A little accident which does nothing but renhance, if that was necessary, the beauty of this collection of songs....
Gérald de Oliveira

indiepoprock.net
Previously named Savoy (the band had to change its name, because another Savoy already existed...), Sibyl Vane presents the official release of “Pret a porter”.
This ep was available last year on cd-r format under the name of Savoy. The release on cd should give the band the opportunity to defend their music in a better way and to celebrate the birth of Sibyl Vane.
The first play of the ep conveys a very precise feeling : the band wants to scramble it all, puzzle us. Right after the electronic atmosphere of Autophage, the song Disligado launches it all. It starts on a very arhythmic kind of pop, a bitter smile, before it stops abruptly. Then it starts again for an endless post-rock crescendo, boosted by a weird vocal sample of Lydia Lunch, closing that way a 10mns long track.
Sibyl Vane works very precisely on the transitions between the songs, and we can fully enjoy the progressive installation of the next big part of the ep, The Dress Code. This song features the first truly sung parts. The melodies and rhythmic job can’t be blamed, but i would understand if you feel a bit surprised by the voices that rise to high-pitched and almost orgasmic falsetto at the end of the song.
There are sensuality and feminin touches in the universe of the band and this can be felt in “Your Weight” that deals with efficiency and “tongue-in-cheek” humor with the clichés and all the aesthetic imperatives that society impose to us.
The strength of Sibyl Vane lies in the mixing of styles : they can blend together the best of electronica, post-rock and noisier sounds to build their own sound.
Sibyl Vane plays the rock their way and is not afraid of stretching songs to 9mns to settle an atmosphere. The quality of the sound and of the arrangements are perfect. Need something more
Jul

headinstars.com
A white sleeve, very simple, with a naked-shouldered young woman photograph covers the first ep of this band from Pau, France. The artwork of the sleeve instantly informs us on the style of this band. Sibyl Vane plays with atmospheres and their work is mainly based on instrumental music. The lyrics seem less important and it conveys the idea that Sibyl Vane is an almost cinematographic band. This kind of bands that gives the audience an important part to play, because of their music is nonlinear and leaves a large part to imagination.
The few lyrics deal with the theme of the physical appearances...”Your weight is right and your size is ok...”
We can also hear the strage Lydia Lunch voice on the song “Disligado”.
Post-rock is the style of music that comes most often to the mind when hearing to these 5 tracks. New-York and its freezing and noisy rock is never far on a song like “The Dress Code”.
On stage, pictures, videos or 8mm movies are screened to underline the visual effects of their music.
This band reminds me of Sophia et moi... a real proof of quality.
Can’t look forward the release of the album !
Erick

clarknova.org
There’s only one step between Savoy and Sibyl Vane, one disc : Pret a porter.
Originally influenced by the New-York rock sound, the music of this Pau-France based band grew more complex towards a genre-blending that reveals a strong personality. Is Carmine back ?
Their profound songs take us to a sensitive slope that sublimates their musical quality. A more intimate reflexion on the links between sound/litterature and images overwhelms Sibyl Vane. (...)
through artistic and musical setting on stage, this ep unveils a very assumed hexagonal musical scene, far from the the great kkkpitalism of the musical industry. Independant and unsubmissive.
I got this “pret a porter” under the skin ! Because of its artistic work, its beauty, its freedom, its courage...
(5 sickles and hammers !!). Francisco le Rouge


Twice
Strange, blurred and hard to define... the Sibyl Vane e.p is surprising.
If the first chords of the opening track "Autophage" takes us to dreamy lands on waves of keyboards, the electronic crackles that soon follows shake us.
We wonder where this strange quartet want to take us ? This question only fades away on the second track (but not the fog that clouds the whole record) with the unveiling of some interresting references : a kind of disguised and made-up post-rock playing with weird rhythm patterns recalling Mogwaï, Ulan Bator or Andy's Car Crash...
The first and tragic babble of a female voice is heard 4mn57 after the beginning of "Disligado". A male duet will do the same impression 4mn after the beginnig of "The Dress Code" (and its Placebo feel) : superb and intense. Then comes "Your Weight" driving us straight into the endless whirl of its "Okay..."... Aarghh...
A disturbing record, delicious, cold and shaking.
Do you like nightmares ?
Clément Marchal

Jadeweb
Sibyl Vane est une formation de cinq personnes, décomposée entre quatre instrumentistes et un projectionniste (Super 8, Vidéo, diapo),dont les apartés visuels sont l’occasion d’une argumentation en parallèle sur l’image, le mouvement et la gamme chromatique.
La structure distille une musique à géométrie variable, qui semble lutter contre l’immobilisme et s’imprègne des courants les plus divers, toujours à même de servir leur musique.
Les influences premières (noisy new yorkaise) qui se distinguent en filigrane deviennent opaques à mesure que l’on avance dans l’écoute, par le fait d’une superposition de couches mélodiques, où les formats pop puis atmosphériques voire électroniques troublent l’exercice rock, diffusent une certaine torpeur, adoucissent les angles… On est charmé par la beauté sourde de Autophage et son clavecin entêtant (sur lequel se couche un essaim de scratch), les envolées d’arpège et d’arythmie de Disligado (et sa petite référence à Lydia Lunch) et Your Weight (entre Salaryman et Ganger), le God speedien The Dress Code, ou l’apesanteur triste présente sur Interlude. Personnel, abouti et (bien) inspiré.
Julien Jaffré

Magic!
Foire aux immortels
Il est vrai que l'univers du dessinateur sied particulièrement bien aux ambiances sombres de ces instrumentaux.
A partir d'une formation somme toute classique, deux guitares, une basse, une batterie et une table de mixage pour samples et claviers,le groupe réalise des compositions fantasmagoriques. Et lorsqu'il utilise la voix d'une Lydia Lunch pleine de colère, on atteint une intensité dramatique presque cinématographique.
Quant à la voix du chanteur, Bernard Cabarrou, elle est étrange, gothique. Elle s'insère en motif lugubre et maniéré, comme un héros fantomatique au coeur de paysages panoramiques, qui oscillent entre mélodie et no man's land bruitiste.
Marie Daubert

Paumad
Quatuor du cru évoluant dans un registre que d'aucun qualifie de post-rock, Sibyl Vane propose une musique essentiellement instrumentale, basée sur la nuance et l'intime. Mais là où certains s'essouflent dans un style où la créativité, contrairement aux morceaux, n'est pas extensible, Sibyl Vane développe son propos avec bonheur, évitant les clichés tout en nous entrainant d'une manière douce et hypnotique dans un véritable voyage initiatique. Leur collaboration avec Luc Cabassot (projections vidéos, 8mm ou diapos) n'est surement pas étrangère a ce phénomène d'attraction qui donne un caractère contemplatif et incantatoire à leures prestations scèniques.
J.R