Last year’s (mildly bonkers) Scott Pilgrim cartoon adaptation, which aggressively remixed the DNA of Pilgrim’s various incarnations across comic books, film, and video games, felt like a love letter to fans who’ve been with Toronto’s Dorkiest Bassist since Bryan Lee O’Malley first breathed life into him twenty years ago. While Scott Pilgrim Takes Off had its weaknesses – not enough Envy Adams! – the singularity of its vision was nothing to scoff at.
Takes Off also graced us with, because this is a prerequisite when it comes to Scott at this point, a truly badass soundtrack taking inspiration from the many and varied Pilgrim adaptations to date. Featuring the chiptune glories of Anamanaguchi, who also did the soundtrack for the excellent Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: The Game, alongside classic and new rock – and yes that includes a new Metric track – it’s a fine addition to the Pilgrim universe, ahead of the 20th anniversary celebrations later this year.
Scott Pilgrim Takes Off‘s 52-track album splits the difference between the TV show’s original, video game-inspired soundtrack, and its many excellent needle drops.
In the former category, there’s the soundtrack by composer Joseph Trapanese (Straight Outta Compton, The Witcher, Star Wars: Tales from the Galaxy’s Edge), teaming up with Anamanaguchi, perhaps the pre-eminent chiptune band working today. (Lucky Toronto concertgoers had a chance to catch them at Lee’s Palace a couple years ago.)
The epic, propulsive soundtrack – which, realistically, isn’t the sort of thing you can just put on as background music relaxing at home – is offset by the TV show’s selection of rock-and-roll hits, ranging from the essential to the unexpected.
In the former category, there’s Halifax-based Plumtree’s 1997 ballad “Scott Pilgrim”, from which the series takes its name, and which has been on every Pilgrim soundtrack since Edgar Wright’s 2010 movie. In the latter, there’s the wholly welcome return of Metric, who wrote Envy Adam’s “Black Sheep” for the film (performed memorably by Brie Larson), here with a brand-new cover of Sarah McLachlan’s “I Will Remember You”.
Other highlights include Stars on 54’s (in)famous cover of Gordon Lightfoot‘s “If You Could Read My Mind”, which any MuchMusic-loving Canadian will remember as an indelible part of their childhood. And speaking of the essentials of Canadian childhood, Tegan and Sara are here too, with 2004’s “You Wouldn’t Like Me”. The CanCon is strong with this one.
The other selling feature of the Scott Pilgrim Takes Off album is, of course, the physical object itself. With LPs making a resurgence, it should come as no surprise that the double-vinyl, four-sided Takes Off record release is gorgeous. Spotify doesn’t do this thing justice.
In addition to its lovely front and back cover illustrations by Scott Pilgrim creator Bryan Lee O’Malley, it also features a wonderfully rendered illustration of the post-Apocalyptic Toronto which (spoilers!) features so prominently in the TV series.
We also like the nice touch of having the logo for Sex Bob-Omb, Scott’s band, imprinted at the centre of each of the records. As both an aesthetic object and an excuse to pick up that retro record player you’ve been eyeing on Kijiji the last few weeks, Scott Pilgrim Takes Off: The Record Album is a great acquisition.
And for Scott Pilgrim diehards, owning this record is a must.
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For more Scott Pilgrim, check out our review of the recent video game remaster, as well as our thoughts on the miniatures board game.
