4. Situation Comedy - King Tut's, 2005

MR CHRIS BROWN
Drums, 2002-2009

I’d like to go out on a limb and assume that, much like the Bermuda Triangle or “Who really shot JFK?” quite why necrophilia isn’t a topic more commonly used in pop songs may well be one of those great mysteries that will never be solved to everyone’s satisfaction.

At the summit of 2005, ‘Situation Comedy’ - a song that dared to break that murky taboo - was one of How to Swim’s flagship efforts (warts of the unconventional content and all). That it was never again performed beyond October of the same year showed the upcoming shift in our priorities. In more ways than one, I suppose it was a sign of bigger things to come. Just prior to that show at Tut’s, we had gone from a seven to a nine-piece band. And, despite believing at the time even that was unfeasible, the sudden increase in the band’s collective BMI didn’t stop there.

I had suspected for some time the reason for our spurt in members was purely the result of seeking a kneejerk cure to every bad gig. Not that every gig the previous year was bad, of course… on careful reflection, probably little more than half! But the reaction to each such occasion seemed to be “need a brass section”, and then after we got the brass section, it was “need a string section too!” If anything though, that kind of response seemed to make the chances of a bad gig even more prominent. We had to change. We had to up our game.

On reflection, to me this performance of ‘Situation Comedy’ represents in some way the dying embers of ‘How to Swim mark II’ (the band I had joined some years earlier). It seemed, at least subconsciously, we had suddenly accepted the need in some way other than lyrical content to stand out from the ever-swelling ranks of Glasgow’s other post-punk-inspired bands doing the same rounds. Even in this gig it didn’t seem all that welcome anymore (new Flautist, Cellist and Violinist sitting idly by wondering quite how they should respond to two of our members performing the last twenty seconds on their backs, limbs waving in the air like distressed, upturned turtles). That said, I still have it down as yet another one of the band’s potential lost gems; the numbers of which still seem endless in my mind even to this day. I remember recording the very first full demo of it in the small hours one freezing night the previous winter. At that point we had it earmarked as a potential single. It’s always surprising and at least in some way invigorating how quickly things can change…

INK WILSON: Vocals
SEAN CALLAGHAN: Electric Guitar
MARTIN DOCHERTY: Bass Guitar
CHRIS BROWN: Drums