Sandbox + Twilight Robin at Abode

By Ged Camera
Reviewer, BBC Manchester

Sandbox's Lennie

On a night when most people just want to relax outside in the balmy summer night air, Sandbox were trying to turn the inside of Abode's Canteen night into a sweat box with their bright, shiny pop tunes.

Front woman, vocalist and guitarist, Lennie, is within touching distance of the assembled as she lets fly with her dynamic vocals that appear to be a hybrid of those belonging to Natalie Findlay and Hayley Faye.

Clear and crystalline, she wraps up ditties about old school experiences into infectious pop nuggets that bounce off the walls.

The band may have been around in one guise or another for a few years now, but they still retain an effusive enthusiasm for their music and revel in playing live.

Twilight Robin

By the time Twilight Robin have moved into their second song, the guitarist looks as though he will self-immolate, such is the ferocity at which the guitar strings are hit.

At other times, he merely looks as though he is enduring a seizure as his head rolls and twist to the intensity of the music.

Starting relatively slowly, each song rapidly gathers momentum with scuzzy guitars underlying the simple but effectively constructed and flung-out choruses.

People stop taking their drinks outside in order to take note of the band, which can't be a bad sign and show their sweat drenched efforts may yet be worthwhile.

(Gig: Saturday 13 June)