“So, check out Sit Down, you say?
“Someone here has described them as ‘doom pop’. What the hell is doom pop? Is that like Taylor Swift or summat?
“Katie Oldham on drums and vocals, Greg Burns on guitar, and Lilly Macieira Boşgelmez on bass. All cheery smiles and bright colours. From Brighton, apparently. Makes sense, all fun and sunny down there.
“Let’s find some videos. Bit tricky to track down, being named after the most overplayed song in human history (sorry James, luv ya). OK, here’s one.
“Definitely gonna sound like Taylor Swi………..
“…………………………….
“…………….
“Holy f*ck.”
Sit Down certainly aren’t quite what you would expect. Any categorisation with ‘pop’ in it is seriously misleading. They may have the faces for Smash Hits, but the riffs are definitely all Kerrang!
Essentially, Sit Down follow the well-trodden philosophy that the best rock music combines the brutal with the beautiful. Burns’ heavy, feedback-laden riffs contrast wonderfully with Oldham’s varied, often quite soulful melodies.
Think Portishead playing over the top of Melvins. Yes, really.
Tonight’s show is the last of a ten-date nationwide run supporting fellow Brightonians The Wytches. A good number of fans have showed up early, and Sit Down waste no time in battering their eardrums.
One thing that quickly stands out is how significant the addition of Macieira Boşgelmez last year is to the band’s live performance. Her bass is packed with deep, dark power, and it fills out the band’s sound impeccably, especially on sludgier tracks like ‘Mothership’.
Tonight’s set showcases everything the band is about. ‘Banana Split’ has a ridiculously catchy hook with roaring guitars, humorously telling the tale of some of the band’s challenges after an initial fast rise. Recent single ’14 Tonnes’, meanwhile, shows that Oldham can scream out her frustrations with the best of them, belting out “I’m about to lose my shit!” over an industrial backing.
’14 Tonnes’ really highlights the most exciting thing of all about this band – they are getting progressively better. Recent releases have added an electronic element very effectively indeed. Sit Down’s brilliant Brighton contemporaries Blood Red Shoes never made it as big as they should have done, largely because they never quite pinned down their sound. Sit Down have honed a sound already that is uniquely theirs, and they are taking it to very exciting places.
Tonight, we are also treated to a couple of new songs that really cement this view. ‘The Remedy’ especially is a real cracker, a chaotic bundle of energy that is reminiscent of Senser at their finest.
Oldham ventures out from behind the drums for set-closer ‘Cheap Luxe’, and looks just as comfortable up front as she does behind the kit. A bottle of bubbly is opened to mark the end of the tour, and it has been well-earned.
Tonight’s set is pretty close to flawless. If we’re being picky, there are a couple of occasions where the bass overwhelms the guitar on songs that should probably be guitar-led, notably the punky ‘Honeysucker’, but this is a very minor quibble. The band are tight, and loud. The good people of Bath are clearly impressed, as evidenced by the long line at the merch stand at the end.
Sit Down probably never would have made it in the old days, when middle aged record company execs and corporate radio stations would decide what we should listen to. They would have taken one look at the band and said “Your image is all wrong! Burns, shave that beard! Oldham, lose the sparkly suit! And for God’s sake, change your name – being named after the most overplayed song in human history will kill your SEO!”
Mercifully, we live in more enlightened times. In the era of DIY music, the people will decide. Sit Down plan to record their debut album later this year. They may not make it onto the cover of either Kerrang! or Smash Hits, even if the latter did still exist, but don’t bet against it causing a stir regardless. This is an exciting band with a very bright future.
