Hello Universe, Fringe by the Sea review: 'feels incomplete'
Are Miracle Glass Company the unluckiest band in Scotland? A new documentary certainly makes it seem that way, but in spite of the setbacks they are still young enough to make something happen, writes Alistair Harkness
Hello Universe: A Rock ’n’ Roll Documentary (15) ★★★
At just 56 minutes, this documentary about Edinburgh psych-rock power trio Miracle Glass Company feels incomplete — appropriate, really, given the band have yet to break through or definitively split up.
Kicking around the Edinburgh music scene for the last decade, the band — comprised of Austen George (guitars/keys/vocals), William Douglas (bass/guitar/vocals) and Andy Duncan (drums/vocals) — have generated flurries of interest, but personal tragedies and bad timing mean they’re not nearly as well known as their most vociferous fans and supporters feel they should be.
Directed by Tommy Slack, Hello Universe mixes archival footage and talking-head interviews to sketch out their origins, their classic rock sound, their sometimes testy dynamic and their early optimism for the band, which evolved from a side-project to a full-time gig, with Oasis-producer Owen Morris signing on to record debut album MGC1, and the band wrangling an invitation to play Tartan Week in New York so they could also shoot a music video in the city.
But then William Douglas endured an unimaginable personal tragedy that changed his attitude to things, and their second album proved more stressful to make. It has its fans, but circumstances were against it from the off: first Covid hit, killing its momentum, then Austen George suffered his own personal tragedy, which further dampened enthusiasm for making things work.
Does this make Miracle Glass Company the unluckiest band in Scotland? Perhaps, but then good bands fail to make it for all sorts of reasons. As a film, Hello Universe recalls Anvil: The Story of Anvil in this sense, just without the decades of perspective that made that film such an entertaining ode to artistic endeavour. The members of MGC are all still young enough to make something happen, but their fans seem to want it more than them.
Hello Universe: A Rock ’n’ Roll Documentary screens at The Dome, North Berwick, 9 August, 7.45pm, as part of the Fringe by the Sea festival
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