I've read the Scott Pilgrim comics. I've seen the movie. I've played the video game. What is particularly unusual about this franchise is that every aspect of it seems to have been made with a real love and attention to detail. That the movie loses almost none of the source material's energy and enthusiasm despite condensing 1200-some pages into less than two hours is remarkable enough and, while the comics and the movie both are rife with video game references and iconography, for the game itself to be a genuinely inventive and enjoyable experience on its own: That's almost unheard of. It's clear that everyone involved was genuinely passionate about this world and its characters, a refreshing change of pace for most of the comic book properties we've had to deal with in recent years.
That passion extends to the film's soundtrack, out now on ABKCO Records. Music plays an important part in Bryan Lee O'Malley's graphic novels. Scott plays bass in a self-proclaimed "terrible" band, Sex Bob-Omb, and the first volume memorably provides a chord chart so the reader can play along with them ("It's easy, because they're kind of crappy!"). Director Edgar Wright, who also whipped up impressive soundtracks for his previous films Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, understands how integral music is to the story. In the liner notes, he talks about how he and O'Malley bonded over shared songs and bands, describing the process as "an endless transatlantic mixtape." To put it simply, Wright, along with co-executive producer Marc Platt and music supervisor Kathy Nelson, nail it. These songs not only work seamlessly within the context of the film, they more than stand on their own as an album.
To represent the fictional bands in the movie, the filmmakers assembled three beloved indie artists: Beck for Sex Bob-Omb; Broken Social Scene for rival band Crash and the Boys; and Metric for The Clash at Demonhead, the band fronted by Scott's ex-girlfriend Envy Adams. For being such a terrible band, the four Sex Bob-Omb songs are the stand-outs, fuzzy blasts of raw punk energy. On the boisterous opener "We Are Sex Bob-Omb," it sounds like the guitars and drums are being bashed to within an inch of their lives. "Garbage Truck" is a catchy, poppy love song told from a unique point of view: "I'll be your garbage man/I'll take out your junk/And I'll crush it down." In the film, the driving "Threshold" is used during Sex Bob-Omb's amplifier battle with the Katayanagi Twins, and as such, there's plenty of whining, stuttering feedback. As for "Summertime," it's as sunny and hummable a summer tune as I've heard in a while. In addition to Beck and regular collaborator Brian LeBarton, actors Michael Cera, Mark Webber, and Alison Pill are all credited on the songs, and all acquit themselves admirably. Webber's vocals, in particular, are well-suited to the underground indie feel.
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