Scott Pilgrim vs. The World

Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

(Universal)

Record Review by Joe Cortez

"We are Sex Bob-Omb and we're hear to make you think about death and get sad and stuff!"

A lot of the pre-release hype surrounding the summer release of the latest Michael Cera starrer, Scott Pilgrim vs the World, revolved around its geek appeal and barrage of video game, comic book and anime references throughout. While the film itself certainly obliges in this department, it also had a hip indie rock sensibility that went unnoticed by its own marketing campaign but may have served the film well had it been highlighted. So a soundtrack this good to a film so nerdy only makes sense considering the flick itself is less about a vapid, self-obsessed geek with no game but rather a vapid, self-obsessed geek who fancies himself a rock musician in a tiny, little indie band no one has heard of called Sex Bob-Omb.

It's now late September and the movie itself has come and gone without much noise, destined to be one of those movies people discover on DVD. But what of its soundtrack? The names assembled for this CD are impressive: Frank Black, Beck, Broken Social Scene; even tried and true staples The Rolling Stones and T-Rex make appearances via classic tunes "Under My Thumb" and "Teenage Dream," respectively. However, the one true, undeniable gem of the soundtrack has to be Metric's "Black Sheep," a song which the band has been working on and performing live for a couple of years now but has finally found a most welcoming home on this killer collection. Fans of the film will no doubt recognize the tune from its performance by faux band (and real life NES game) Clash at Demonhead. Here, though, we have the original version recorded by one of the better bands to emerge from the indie scene over the last decade or so - and boy is it a treat.

I won't lie: I absolutely loved Scott Pilgrim vs the World. As of this review, I've seen the film about a dozen times in theaters and eagerly await its eventual Blu-ray release. I feel like I'm intimately familiar with Edgar Wright's movie and was more than a little surprised to notice that as I listened to the soundtrack, every song is basically presented as it appeared in the film, working as something like an audio travelogue through Wright's world. Having collected movie soundtracks in the past, I know it's not uncommon for a film's score to be presented sequentially, but for what's ostensibly a collection of pop songs, this attention to detail is much appreciated and also shows just how well the music works together painting the emotions and grounding this very exaggerated world. I should mention, however, that none of Nigel Godrich's original score for the film appears on this soundtrack but is available as a separate recording.

This album itself is as personal as the film it supports and I suspect will appeal to music snobs just as the film has won the hearts of geeks, nerds and the like. However, in this age of iTunes, can a soundtrack still be valid? By and large many of the songs on their own are quite good and can be purchased individually online. This soundtrack, on the other hand, the complete collection, is the absolutely perfect souvenir for those who loved this movie and want to bask in its glow long after the lights have gone up and the screen has faded.