Live at Little Saint: Sandy’s

Sandy’s emerged from the ashes of The Botticellis, the critically acclaimed and influential Bay Area band led by singer, songwriter, and composer Alexi Glickman, which released two EPs and one LP before disbanding. In the wake of that breakup, the band’s members scattered into a range of new projects: Glickman produced and drummed for Little Wings, Zack Ehrlich and Ryan Browne formed Sonny and the Sunsets, and Sandy’s began as a casual recording and performing outlet for Glickman, often appearing live as a duo or trio with a revolving cast of Bay Area musicians.

The lineup began to cohere when fellow Botticellis multi-instrumentalist Burton Li joined, along with former Apollo Sunshine drummer Jeremy Black and Range of Light Wilderness bassist Nick Aives. Sandy’s first LP, Fourth Dementia, was released in 2014 by visual artist Thomas Campbell on his label Um Yeah Arts. It was followed by the self-released EP Prom in 2016, which found the band settling into its signature sound: glassy, open-tuned Stratocaster shimmer, surf-inflected atmosphere, and harmonically rich, melodically expansive songwriting.

Their latest offering, Sound of the Bay, returns to the more intimate and fluid aesthetic of Prom and Chime. Recorded at Burton Li’s home in Truckee, the record was built from harmonic sketches, group interplay, and improvisation, capturing a band still committed to discovery while deepening the surf-jazz language that has become uniquely their own.