Album Review: GUTS by Olivia Rodrigo

GUTS
Olivia Rodrigo
Geffen Records
GRADE – A
If Olivia Rodrigo’s debut album, SOUR, was an album of heartbreak and mourning, then GUTS is an album of freedom and relatability. Rodrigo swapped the slow, sad, lovesick anthems for loud, honest, and charmingly liberated ballads. Starting out with a bang, Rodrigo’s opening track, “all american bitch,” is a refreshingly pop-punk masterpiece that expertly shines a light on simply being a girl, and the box that comes with it. Rodrigo plays with themes of rebounding and consequences with her tracks like “get him back!” and “bad idea right?” She laughs at the past in her song, “love is embarrassing.” And shares the overwhelming embarrassment of living and breathing as a teenage girl, or soon-to-be twenty-something in “ballad of a homeschooled girl.” The record’s first hit single, while not a personal favorite, “vampire” had the devastated feel of “driver’s license” and the anger of “brutal” and “good 4 u,” all hit tracks from SOUR. However, the track felt like a waste of a single, where songs like “ballad of a homeschooled girl” and “bad idea right?” had the potential to go even farther on the charts and through the hearts of fans. Each song from the GUTS album was meant to be sung or screamed, which further cements Rodrigo’s spotlight on A-list pop. While SOUR paved the way for the young and up-and-coming pop star, GUTS secured her title as the newest, relatable pop princess with her clever lyricism and satisfying pop songs.
-Bella Coco