Thoughts: GUTS - Olivia Rodrigo
It’s extremely easy to talk about Olivia Rodrigo as only the newest member of a lineage of Pop Girls. There’s a habit in music criticism to describe an artist as the sum of their parts, and I understand why it’s done so often; you want your reader to have context for what they’re going to hear. However, with her sophomore album GUTS, Olivia has reached the moment in her career where that’s become difficult to do. Sure, there are moments that sound vaguely like the pop stars of the past, but they’re countered by sounds and lyrics that only Olivia Rodrigo could have created. It’s a truly exciting thing to witness.
From the jump, we’re in a sonic landscape that SOUR only hinted at. While “all-american bitch” starts with a lovely finger-picked intro, it hurls itself into a rocking chorus that evokes modern indie rock much more than anything on Midnights or Melodrama. As some have pointed out, it may also be a reference to the Disney Channel-core rockstar fantasies Miley Cyrus was performing during Olivia’s childhood. The song is also a clever ode to defying the laughably high expectations placed on her shoulders; again, a sentiment that reminds me more of Mitski’s “Your Best American Girl” than Taylor’s “The Man.”
There are several songs on GUTS that are just as adept at dodging cliche. “bad idea right?” depicts Olivia making a wrong decision with an ex, but in a way that feels natural and not overwrought with guilt— an incredibly realistic version of a rom-com trope. “get him back!” also visits a post-breakup theme, but revels in the contradicting feelings of wanting both revenge and nostalgia. Both songs could have easily zagged into well-worn territory, but end up feeling genuine and wholly Olivia Rodrigo. The most treacherous tightrope walk of them all, though, is “pretty isn’t pretty,” a song that joins a long tradition of artists bemoaning beauty standards. The construction and attention to detail prevents the song from feeling too preachy or predictable, especially with lines like “it’s in my phone, it’s in my head / it’s in the boys I bring to bed.” Even Beach Bunny’s “Prom Queen,” a song I instantly compared it to, doesn’t get that specific.
The album is at its best when it feels truly original. “vampire” may have been the lead single, but it still soars in a way that feels gutting and timeless. “lacy” is the most indecipherable track on the record, reading as either a tribute to a girl she loves but can’t escape, or a more vague concept of the person she’s expected to be. It’s already stoked many a Tik-Tok war. “ballad of a homeschooled girl,” my personal highlight, is filled with relatable anxious energy, and the buoyant chorus gets the goosebumps going every time. Closer “teenage dream” isn’t a Katy Perry cover (thank god!), but instead a heart-wrenching vision of the future— when Olivia sings “They all say that it gets better, it gets better / but what if I don’t?” it breaks my heart.
For someone who is clearly just starting her career, it’s devastating to hear her think she’s peaked. But if GUTS proves anything, it’s that you can feel like you have the weight of the world on your shoulders and still create something triumphant. The world doesn’t need just another canonical Pop Girl, so thankfully it’s given us Olivia Rodrigo.
