With recent airplay on Juice and several headlining gigs over the summer, Carlo Sandblow are one of the most promising unsigned acts on the Brighton band circuit.

Avoiding angsty self-introspection and muddy guitar sounds, theirs is an upbeat, ska-tinged-country-soul, played with the express purpose of getting feet moving and lips smiling.

The influence of early Costello, The Police and American acoustic artist Jack Johnson are bubbling just under the surface but Carlo Sandblow morph their disparate musical interests into an original aural onslaught.

Charismatic frontman Steve Feniuk, replete with cheeky renaissance facial hair, regailed the audience with eccentric witticisms and gave an impassioned performance of his self-penned tunes.

He also provided some unintentional slapstick. Naturally short-sighted and refusing to wear his bins because "they make me look like a geek", he was engaged in a relentlessly amusing battle to decipher the miniscule set-list.

This slight setback overcome, the music flowed freely.

Lead guitarist Tim Martin picked out laconic and catchy riffs with direct simplicity, while his girlfriend Anna James provided sultry backing vocals. Rowan Feldberg on drums and Marcus O'Dair on bass pumped out the tight, reggae-inflected beats.

During Chains, the duo really got the chance to strut their stuff and responded with a beguiling torrent of jazzy rhythms that had the crowd screaming for more.