Intercut with VHS and Super-8 archive inserts, Niall McCann’s documentary is part concert film, part nostalgic love letter to Glaswegian indie record label Chemikal Underground and the Scottish socialism of its 1990s heyday. Members of the Delgados, Franz Ferdinand and Bis offer colourful anecdotes, though even superfans may find their patience waning when Mogwai’s Stuart Braithwaite starts spouting platitudes about how music “can’t be quantified”.
Far more interesting than their personal ruminations are the musicians’ reflections on Glasgow as a post-industrial creative hub and their memories of the welfare state that once enabled the scene to thrive. “Nobody I knew was idle,” remembers Franz Ferdinand’s Alex Kapranos, in a reminder that it was dole money that allowed artists to “resource themselves” and labels to take risks.
