The brainchild of former
Botticellis founding member
Alexi Glickman,
Sandy's takes its name from his post-surfing habit of tracking bits of the beach into friends' cars and gives breezy psych-pop a twist with open-tuned guitars. Recruiting members of
Botticellis,
Apollo Sunshine, and
Sonny & the Sunsets, the project's debut album,
Fourth Dementia, appeared in 2014. By their third album, 2021's
Magic Mind,
Glickman had expanded personnel and shifted into lusher, trippier arrangements and a higher-fidelity recording approach.
Along with his time in
the Botticellis -- whose 2008 album
Old Home Movies earned acclaim for its warm, intricate indie pop --
Glickman also played with
Little Wings before forming
Sandy's as a solo project in 2012. Eventually,
Sandy's grew to include his former
Botticellis bandmate Burton Li on guitar,
Sonny & the Sunsets' Nick Aives on bass, and
Apollo Sunshine's Jeremy Black on drums. The band recorded their debut album at
Glickman's and Black's respective studios, enlisting help from members of Rustangs,
Vetiver, and Tortured Genies; the results,
Fourth Dementia, arrived in June 2014 on Um Yeah Arts. The EP Prom followed in July 2015 on Sandyams, Dingo Records, and Superfan 99 (U.K.). Following a recording by
Glickman and drummer
Cody Rhodes of the "Surfy Christmas" single, released in December 2017,
Sandy's second full-length, Chime, featured the lineup of
Glickman,
Rhodes, Li (guitar, bass), David Muller (guitar, bass), and Sam Buchanan (guitar). It arrived on Sandyams in April 2018.
Royal Oakie Records signed the group in 2020 and released a series of stand-alone songs including "In the Keep of Collapsing Star" and "It's Gonna Be Alright." With
Glickman citing influences ranging from
Bach to
Brian Wilson,
Magic Mind, a concept album that follows a couple on a mystical journey while they're both helped and challenged along the way, eventually followed on Royal Oakie in June 2021. It featured Chime's personnel, minus Buchanan, and adding Aives, Dmitri Glickman, Iain Mann,
Brett Garsed, and Jeremy Harris. ~ Heather Phares & Marcy Donelson