Olivia Rodrigo – GUTS

Review Score:

A-

September 8 / 2023

I feel like GUTS, Olivia Rodrigo’s sophomore album, is almost a tailored response to what I thought of SOUR. Rodrigo, just 20 years old, leans much more heavily on personality in many of these songs. And it works. SOUR was good for what it was: an angsty, emotional breakup album about a very public situation. It was much more public than most would be at all comfortable with. Especially given how young Rodrigo was at the time of its release. SOUR‘s Taylor Swift influence was very clear. And not in a bad way, necessarily. It just felt like it wasn’t wholly Rodrigo’s own. The opening track, “brutal”, was phenomenal. THAT is what I hoped I would hear more of on her follow up album. And I got what I wanted.

The early to mid 2000s influence is evident right from the start with “all-american bitch”, which sounds like Natasha Bedingfield has had her hands on it. Rodrigo isn’t oblivious to this, as she references her inspiration with the line “I’ve got sun in my motherfuckin’ pocket, best believe”. I also love hearing Rodrigo lean into these pop-punk sounds. Speaking of which, her vocal delivery is much improved here. She always was vocally impressive, but each and every track here is brimming with personality and emotion.

Olivia Rodrigo released her debut album at 18. And the album emulates the experience of being 18 well. Now 20, GUTS sounds like the point of view of a 20 year old. That two year jump may seem short, but anyone who’s ever aged knows the significance of that particular period in one’s life. And that’s for a normal person who wasn’t thrust into the spotlight.

There are some holdover elements from SOUR. Though she does branch out, the piano ballads remain. This isn’t to say that they’re bad. I just find that Rodrigo’s youthful writing style better lends itself to the higher energy tracks. That said, she still has some great lines. The closing track, “teenage dream” is one of the better tracks, lyrically. While a little less musically lush as the other songs, I did appreciate the supporting strings (and the harmonies on the bridge). It has the same sort of message and songwriting approach as Taylor Swift’s “Nothing New”. But Olivia makes it her own nonetheless. There are some unexpected influences here too. Intentional or not, “pretty isn’t pretty” has an almost The Cure-esque guitar line.

Olivia Rodrigo could easily get away with a much more obvious, bland, record. But she doesn’t. She walks a fine line between what’s publicly appealing and what’s artistically interesting. I expect that I will find myself returning to this album more than SOUR. At the end of the day, I appreciate how unhinged some of these songs are. I love being unhinged. It’s my favorite.

Review Score:

A-

Gubb wrote this review. You can’t get mad at Gubb.