Sit Down in Front’s Rain single reigns on charts

STARDOM: Jackson Clarke (left), Rikki Noble, Cory Newman and Roman Benson of Gisborne punk act Sit Down In Front have had a busy time lately and it’s about to get busier when they play support for Australian rock band Cold Chisel. Picture supplied

Jacked up on lattes and Pilates, mums and dads go nuts in the mosh pit, Year 10 student Jackson Clarke performs a mean guitar lead break from atop a dead electricity substation transformer and Sit Down in Front’s singer Cory Newman sings about how crap it is to be caught in the rain.

These are a handful of scenes in the young punk band’s music video, Rain, that is lashing the country. The lads recorded the single at Neil Finn’s Roundhead Studios with an international producer, then Jordan Perry shot footage for the video at Smash Palace and now they’re getting attention, radio play and interviews all over the shop.

“The video’s getting a lot of hits,” says Cory’s dad and band manager Carl Newman.

“Things keep rolling along. They’ve been picked up by Spotify. Spotify curates a playlist of new music they like every week. The week we got released they noticed our song and put it on the playlist. Only two New Zealand bands were included and one of them was Sit Down in Front.”

In the first week of its release Rain made number 7 on the NZ singles music charts and has since made it to playlists on Hauraki and the Rock radio stations; Radio 13, Channel Z and NZ On Air have selected it as one of the new tracks of the month. “The Rock messaged us to say they were inundated with texts from people during the Rock Drive show, saying how cool the song was.”

The band has been interviewed for features in NZ Musician magazine, and Hamilton Underground Press while, sitting in London’s Spitalfields Market on a rainy day “with a lukewarm, piss- weak cup of dirty water trying to pass itself off as coffee,” music reviewer Paul Goddard smiles as the sound of Sit Down in Front’s Rain blasts into his eardrums.

“This is classic punk in the vein of The Sex Pistols and vocalist Cory Newman has the required angsty, snotty vocal perfectly nailed. Sit Down in Front have managed to take a really mundane everyday (well, it is at the moment here in the UK) event and turn it into a three minute vitriolic attack on Mother Nature.”

Support from Smash Palace owner Darryl Monteith has been invaluable, says Newman.

“We’re now getting shoulder-tapped by bands from all over the country wanting Sit Down in Front as a support act.

“Watch this space. There’s more to come.”