Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack] [Expanded Edition]

Original Soundtrack

(Digital Download - ABKCO Records #)

Review by Heather Phares

The soundtracks to movies adapted from comic books are often marketing free-for-alls; promoting bands takes precedence over choosing songs that make sense for the film. However, nothing could be further from the truth for Scott Pilgrim vs. the World’s music. Since so much of the comic revolves around the bands that the characters play in, the film was already somewhat protected from having a bunch of random songs crammed into its soundtrack, but the film’s creative team ensured that the music was done right. Director Edgar Wright's other films (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, etc.) boast soundtracks that brim with personality onscreen and play more like mixtapes than albums in their own right; that feeling continues here with picks like Beachwood Sparks' “By Your Side,” T. Rex's “Teenage Dream,” and Frank Black's “I Heard Ramona Sing.” The musicians who bring the comic’s bands to life are just as cleverly chosen. Beck revisited his slacker-punk roots with the songs he wrote for Scott's band Sex Bob-Omb; though they’re performed by Michael Cera and the other actors in the film, “Threshold,” “Summertime,” and “Garbage Truck” still have Beck's gloriously messy early-‘90s vibe to them. Later, he contributes “Ramona,” a dreamy ballad that sounds more like his 2000s work. Meanwhile, Broken Social Scene are Crash and the Boys, the rival band whose “I’m So Sad, So Very Very Sad” lasts a whopping five seconds. Every part of the soundtrack shows how much care went into it, from choosing artists like Broken Social Scene and Metric to nod to the story’s Canadian setting, to the 8-bit version of “Threshold” that reflects Pilgrim’s immersion in video games. The sweetest detail may be the song that started it all: “Scott Pilgrim,” by the Canadian all-female band Plumtree from their 1997 album Predicts the Future, holds within it all the breathless true love and crunchy guitar goodness that sparked the comic. Somehow, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World's music remains true not just to the comic, but to the work of everyone involved in the story at every stage, with plenty of fun and heart to boot.

Track Listing

Title/Composer Performer Time Stream
1 Sex Bob-Omb 02:00 SpotifyAmazon
2 Plumtree 03:02 SpotifyAmazon
3 Frank Black 03:40 SpotifyAmazon
4 Beachwood Sparks 04:57 SpotifyAmazon
5 Black Lips 02:51 SpotifyAmazon
6 Crash and the Boys 00:13 SpotifyAmazon
7 Crash and the Boys 00:59 SpotifyAmazon
8 Sex Bob-Omb 01:44 SpotifyAmazon
9 T. Rex 05:45 SpotifyAmazon
10 The Bluetones 04:36 SpotifyAmazon
11 Blood Red Shoes 02:56 SpotifyAmazon
12 Metric 04:56 SpotifyAmazon
13 Sex Bob-Omb 01:47 SpotifyAmazon
14 Broken Social Scene 04:35 SpotifyAmazon
15 The Rolling Stones 03:41 SpotifyAmazon
16 Beck 01:02 SpotifyAmazon
17 Beck 04:22 SpotifyAmazon
18 Sex Bob-Omb 02:10 SpotifyAmazon
19 Brian LeBarton 01:48 SpotifyAmazon
20 Brie Larson / Metric 04:54 SpotifyAmazon
21 Sex Bob-Omb 02:15 SpotifyAmazon
22 Beck 01:50 SpotifyAmazon
23 Beck 01:45 SpotifyAmazon
24 Sex Bob-Omb 01:14 SpotifyAmazon
25
Go!
Plumtree 02:33 SpotifyAmazon
26 Beck 00:53 SpotifyAmazon
27 Beck 01:13 SpotifyAmazon
28 Beck 01:08 SpotifyAmazon
29 Beck 04:22 SpotifyAmazon
30 Beck 02:11 SpotifyAmazon
31 Nigel Godrich 00:55 SpotifyAmazon
blue highlight denotes track pick