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James Gunn knows his way around a performative soundtrack. Here are some of the best songs included in HBO Max’s newest series, Peacemaker.
WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Peacemaker, now streaming on HBO Max.
It’s not a James Gunn project if there isn’t a stellar soundtrack, and he brings his talent of combining stylish music with the art of cinema once again with Peacemaker. The titular character has his emotional and physical ups and downs throughout the series, and Gunn brilliantly mirrors that in his choice of music.
Peacemaker‘s soundtrack brings metal to the mainstream with hard rock takes on pop songs of the 2010s, along with obscure bands that have found their place in the weird eclectic essence of Peacemaker’s world. Let’s look at some of the best and most memorable bangers used so far in the series.
“Do Ya Wanna Taste It?” by Wig Wam
Compared to the other breathtaking and minimalistic opening credits on HBO’s shows, Peacemaker‘s stands out for its odd choice of the cast’s awkward fully-choreographed dance to Wig Wam’s “Do Ya Wanna Taste It?” But its awkwardness aids in the hilarious atmosphere of the show and makes it another un-skippable beat. What makes it so endearing is seeing such stern characters such as Emilia Harcourt and Auggie Smith break it down while managing to keep a straight face to stick to their strict personalities, proving that almost anybody can get a groove out of “Do Ya Wanna Taste It?”
“Come On Come on” by Nashville Pussy
It shouldn’t be too surprising for a band named Nashville Pussy to make a musical appearance on a show inept on joking about sex and crudeness. In the first episode, “Come On Come On” plays on the car radio as Peacemaker drives around the city with his pet eagle, Eagly. This scene comes after a meeting at a restaurant with the rest of the Project Butterfly squad who disapprove of working with the vigilante, but are forced to as punishment for disobeying Amanda Waller’s command in The Suicide Squad. Waller’s daughter, Leota Adebayo, is the only one who tries to see the best in Peacemaker, despite his rudeness. He attempts to end the night on a high note through “Come On Come On” while bonding with his pet/best friend.
“Drag Me Down” by Santa Cruz
This one is for those who had an obsessive One Direction phase in middle school. If this hard rock thriller sounds familiar, that’s because it’s been an established radio hit since 2015. A One Direction pop single turned around by Santa Cruz, “Drag Me Down” is hardly recognizable as the boy-band hit in Episode 2 of Peacemaker. The song is featured in a riveting montage of Peacemaker and Vigilante going out to the woods to blow off steam, which results in shooting appliances as the expert gunman they are. It’s a perfect hype song for someone like Peacemaker, who definitely needs it.
“Pumped Up Kicks” by John Murphy feat. Ralph Saenz
Another alternative cover of a radio hit, “Pumped Up Kicks” serves as both a scary reminder and a funny joke. The song is first mentioned in an argument between Amber and Evan, an unhappy married couple that Peacemaker holds hostage. Amber criticizes Evan’s music taste, arguing that Foster the People literally wrote a song about shooting children. At the end of Episode 2, the cover plays over the white supremacists worshipping Auggie as the “White Dragon” in prison. Peacemaker manages to remind the audience both of the song’s true meaning and the intentions behind Auggie as the White Dragon.
“Six Feet Under” by Kissin’ Dynamite
In Episode 3, “Six Feet Under” plays as the Butterfly disguised as a senator, Royland Goff, prepares to torture Peacemaker and Vigilante in his creepy basement. Meanwhile, the rest of the Project Butterfly group have trouble finding the hidden passage to the basement to rescue Peacemaker and Vigilante. The song fades out as Vigilante is unmasked, revealing his true identity as Adrian Chase, and Leota finds the entrance to the basement. The choice of song is quite ironic, considering the two men were stuck underground, while also on their way to being six feet under the ground if they wouldn’t give Goff the information he wanted.
“Jawbreaker” by The Cruel Intentions
In Episode 4, Leota embraces her mother to manipulate Vigilante into landing himself in jail, which leads to “Jawbreaker” being used as a cool backdrop to Vigilante’s slow-motion walk as he prepares to assassinate Auggie, or better known by his followers, the White Dragon. This episode definitely highlights Adrian Chase rather than Vigilante, and shows that even without the suit, he’s as confident as ever walking down a hallway of taunting inmates to the modern glam rock song. Meanwhile, the song also plays as Peacemaker returns home to reveal he didn’t actually kill the Butterfly that came out of Goff’s human body, and instead kept it in a jar.
“House of Pain” by Faster Pussycat
Poor Peacemaker. He just can’t seem to go a day without having a breakdown. After discovering that the team knows about his traumatic childhood, he heads home to sulk with Eagly and Goff the Butterfly by his side in Episode 4. “House of Pain” is almost too on the nose, but that’s what Peacemaker is feeling in the moment. There’s a brief flashback of Rick Flag’s death that has been haunting Peacemaker this entire series, and more extensively are flashbacks of him and his brother as kids, along with their menacing father. They don’t explicitly show how Peacemaker was blamed for the death of his brother, but it shows the two having a heartfelt, brotherly relationship that seems to be the root of his love for music.
To find more tunes to jam out to, stream Peacemaker on HBO Max. Check back for more soundtrack updates as the series progresses.
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