Media and Music: We Are Sex Bob-Omb, and We’re Here to Geek Out Over the “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World” Soundtrack

Time to break out the L word for how iconic this movie soundtrack is — love, not lesbians.  

In Media and Music, our writers take a deep dive into how movies use scores and songs to engage viewers, give new meaning and tone to some of our favorite scenes, and establish themes. It almost goes without saying, but there are spoilers abound.

Written by Heather Stewart

Photos courtesy of Universal Pictures 

The 2010 film "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World” emerged as a modern cult classic by melding comedic character storylines, 8-bit graphics, and a carefully curated, hilariously edgy, multi-genre soundtrack. This Canadian film adaptation of Bryan Lee O’Malley’s graphic novel series brought quintessential, nostalgic video game culture to the box office. Director and co-writer Edgar Wright and producer composer Nigel Godrich worked endlessly to find musicians and tracks that could best capture the mood envisioned for each scene and personality of each character in “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World.” To say they succeeded is an understatement. 

10 years later, this soundtrack remains an undeniable lure to the ears of fans everywhere. This year, to the delight of many fans flooding the replies of Wright's Twitter, ABKCO Music & Records re-released both the "Scott Pilgrim" soundtrack and its score. By re-examining the film through its most iconic tracks, the lovability of "Scott Pilgrim” runs even deeper than it did a decade ago.

The introduction of Sex Bob-Omb, Scott Pilgrim's mediocre garage band, whose name is a reference to Super Mario’s Bob-Omb characters, sets the premise for the film: boy meets girl, boy needs to defeat girl's seven evil exes to date her, all while battling multiple bands. Sex Bob-Omb’s introductory song, “We are Sex Bob-Omb,” serves as a backtrack to the opening credits, while painting an angsty ambiance that contrasts the scene's perfectly awkward dialogue. With static-y guitars, sporadic screaming, inconsistent rhythm, and punchy drums, this track is the textbook definition of 2000s garage band music: loud enough to blow out the speakers in your mom's minivan. 

Sex Bob-Omb manages to be so bad the music sounds good good, but this isn’t achieved unintentionally. In an interview with Consequence of Sound, Godrich spoke about the 72-hour song-writing session that cultivated Sex Bob-Omb's authentic, choppy sound. To get a further idea of Sex Bob-Omb’s garage band vibe, Scott Pilgrim introduces one of the band’s performances by shouting, “We are Sex Bob-Omb, and we’re here to make you think about death and get sad and stuff.” By combining stereotypical subject matter with a hodge podge, unpolished sound, the creators of "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World" left viewers wanting more.

If one Sex Bob-Omb song isn’t enough to satisfy your inner teenage angst, don’t fear — the band performs a handful of other epic tracks throughout the film. The battle-of-the-bands intimidation mixed with the pressure of Scott Pilgrim’s mistress meeting his girlfriend in the audience set the scene for Sex Bob-Omb’s arguably more competitve performance of “Garbage Truck,” which holds the same grunge, homemade sound as “We Are Sex Bob-Omb.” However, it's less noisy and chaotic with more rhythm and control. The vocals are mediocre at best, but the steady guitar riffs and fleshed-out lyrics elevate and diversify the viewer’s perception of Sex Bob-Omb’s DIY sound. 

Prior to their performance of “Garbage Truck,” the members of Sex Bob-Omb stress over the weirdly intimidating performance of their rival. Crash and The Boys technically does serve as legitimate competition against Sex Bob-Omb — not in terms of sound or performance quality — but in their satirical representation of a typical garage band. To put it into perspective, here are the lyrics to their first song: “So sad.” That’s it. That’s the song. 

The other iconic band in “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World,” whose name references a nostalgic 8-bit Japanese video game, is introduced by the line, “And then it was time for Toronto to drown in the sweet sorrow of the Clash At Demonhead.” At this point in the film, Scott and Ramona find themselves in an awkward position: stuck in the crowd while both of their exes are about to perform onstage. Viewers already learned earlier in the movie that Natalie ‘Envy’ Adams, the lead singer of TCAD, dumped Scott approximately 431 days prior to one of Ramona and Scott’s dates. The plot thickens when Scott has to battle another one of Ramona's exes, the Clash At Demonhead bassist — yikes!

The lyrics to Metric’s “Black Sheep,” performed by Clash At Demonhead, directly apply to the unfolding plot: “Hello again, friend of a friend, I knew you when / Our common goal was waiting for the world to end.” This song is one of the most notable on the soundtrack and creates the perfect, high-energy ambiance for the upcoming drama in the film. The tongue-in-cheek verses, airy looping guitars, and intense glares shared between the characters set up the tension between the members of TCAD and the two new lovers. Following a tense couch chat backstage, a bass battle, and a drop of cow milk in the cup of Ramona’s evil vegan ex (yes, you read that right), Scott broke the tension and made it one step closer to ultimate victory over his dream girl's heart. 

Refocusing on Sex Bob-Omb’s impact on the “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World” soundtrack, the band’s  final performance in the movie carries an intense sound that pairs perfectly with the on-screen chaos. The track serves as a musical weapon against the Katayanagi twins, two more of Ramona’s evil exes. In this battle of the bands, pieces of the stage fly off, ginormous beasts materialize out of thin air to fight, and Ramona’s 7th evil ex, G-Man, appears out of nowhere. 

“Threshold” only amplifies Sex Bob-Omb’s distorted, elementary punk sound by using feedback-driven electric guitar riffs, lyrics with basic rhymes, and sonically rough vocals. Scott Pilgrim’s overwhelming situation is reflected in the lyrics of the song: “Reaching my threshold / Staring at the truth til I’m blind.” After learning just how hard it will be to defeat all of Ramona's exes, Scott realizes he must push himself to the limit for her love. It’s an all-or-nothing moment for Scott, and he definitely puts his whole body into his performance of this obnoxiously loud track, head-banging so hard that his neck nearly flies off.

“Scott Pilgrim vs. The World” isn’t just alt rock. The soundtrack doesn’t shy away from indie tracks that balance the abrasive sounds of the film's fictional bands. The soft love ballad, “By Your Side” by Beachwood Sparks, is used ironically at best to paint an unrealistically dreamy portrait of Scott's affair with his muse, Ramona. Over slow country instrumentals and feathery vocals, the lyrics of "By Your Side" contrast the reality of this first-date encounter: “You think I’d leave your side baby / You know me better than that / You think I’d leave you down when you’re on your knees / I wouldn’t do that.” This track evokes a dreamy, romantic feeling despite the on-screen affair taking place, allowing the viewers to experience Scott’s ignorant bliss through the music. 

The lyrics of '70s track “Teenage Dream” by T. Rex reflect 17-year-old fangirl Knives Chau’s thoughts after Scott breaks up with her ("Whatever happened to the teenage dream?") This track  symbolizes Knives’ heartbreak with its moody lyrics and dreamy symphonic strings. The song manages to capture Knives' idolization of Scott as well as Scott's fascination with Ramona.

The melancholy track "Ramona" by Beck comes up three times in "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World," but the most powerful use of the song is at the end of the film when Scott pursues Ramona. Scott put up a final fight for his manic pixie dream girl but was disappointed when she bid him farewell and said she still wanted to run away from Toronto to start anew. Scott (literally) runs after her as she walks away, a classic romance movie trope with a satirical twist. As one of the slowest songs on the soundtrack, "Ramona" uses mellotron, strings, and soft vocals to plant a seed of hope for Ramona's and Scott’s relationship. The film offers no evidence that Ramona and Scott have enough depth in their relationship to make it last, but the unrealistic nature of the final scene is reflected in the lyrics, “And if it’s all a lie / The truth’s not far behind / We could live right for a moment.” With all the chaos that surrounded their relationship, the ending moment feels right — maybe a little too right. The film never claimed to be realistic, but, hey, at least this track leaves viewers feeling good inside as the ending scene slips into the credits.

The “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World” soundtrack serves as a perfect balance to the comedically timed silence and quick, dry dialogue that saturates most of the film. The sentimental songs add an aspect of humanity while the edgier tracks keep the movie from taking itself too seriously. 10 years later, the math still adds up: 19 perfectly placed songs on the soundtrack plus seven evil exes equals infinite rewatches for die-hard fans of “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World."