GUTS by Olivia Rodrigo | Album Review

Corporate-manufactured nostalgia for the early 2000s is back with Olivia Rodrigo’s Guts – the sophomore release from the HSMTMTS star that we are far too old to be watching on Disney+. Since breaking into the pop scene in early 2021, its been impossible to avoid Rodrigo’s music across Tiktoks and Targets worldwide.

To celebrate the oncoming wave of viral audios, I’ll be doing a track-by-track breakdown of the album, highlighting all of the artists that inspire Rodrigo’s sound and that will be suing over flimsy interpolation allegations in the coming weeks.

all-american bitch

Rodrigo opens the album with feathery guitar and vocal production that kicks up into a fiery declaration of womanhood and its associated societal expectations.

Catchiness aside, the opening riff seems to be lifted straight from Weezer’s “Surf Wax America” while the overall track follows the band’s formulaic approach to alt-rock hits, with Rodrigo even achieving Brian Bell’s signature guitar sound on the breakdown.

bad idea right?

While the title may subtly refer to interpolating other songs after losing royalties to “deja vu” and “good 4 u”, the single brings a fresh perspective to Rodrigo’s discography depicting the infamous backslide.

The verse’s chord progression and strumming pattern is reminiscent of Green Day’s “Warning” – perhaps another subtle warning not to get with an ex?

Rodrigo also references a musical influence she has cited publicly before in The White Stripes, replicating Jack White’s tone in “Icky Thump” in her own screaming guitar solo.

Perhaps the most under-the-radar shoutout on the record goes to Johnny Cash, parodying his line, “I tell you I’ve fought tougher men, but I really can’t remember when,” off of “A Boy Named Sue” in Rodrigo’s second verse.

lacy

The obsessive track bears similarity to the production behind Snail Mail’s stripped down tracks from Valentine like “c. et al.” and “Light Blue” which Rodrigo cited as a favorite record in a recent interview. There’s also a brief shimmer of Phoebe Bridgers in the echoey chorus in one of Rodrigo’s more inventive vocal performances.

ballad of a homeschooled girl

A medley of influences blend together to create the best track on the record that I might hate for all the reasons it’s great. Rodrigo once again emulates early Weezer hits, with the opening drum solo and guitar tone signaling Pinkerton‘s “No One Else” and the verses’ borrowed melodies from Maladroit‘s “Dope Nose.”

A nod to Kim Deal and The Pixies comes through on a bass line eerily similar to “Debaser” – compounded by Rodrigo tapping The Breeders to open her New York and LA shows on the upcoming tour.

The chorus’ first lines lend a glimpse of “Kryptonite” by 3 Doors Down and “Lydia” by Highly Suspect, but the song’s most obvious interpolation is another Snail Mail reference. Rodrigo’s explosive delivery of, “Each time I step outside, it’s social suicide,” is pulled straight from the burning finale of Lindsey Jordan’s “Static Buzz” – the resemblance is comical really.

i got bored

[The back half of GUTS falls under her piano ballad template that doesn’t really resonate with me, so we’ll stop the track-by-track breakdown there. I also don’t like writing cynical things, which the first half of this post is, so let’s reel it back in.]

Olivia Rodrigo receives a lot of mostly undeserved hate for pulling inspiration from her musical influences. Most young, popular artists today do it too and don’t face the same scrutiny. Splitting royalties is common in an industry of greedy labels and establishment super-stars.

Unfortunately, she’s subject to this additional tax of being a young female artist with a young female fan base, of being a central pillar for the faux pop-punk revival, of being a pop artist creating music that’s slightly outside the trending mush.

At some point, though, inspiration becomes imitation, and that equilibrium seems to be Rodrigo’s comfort zone on her first two records.

To young stans unaware of the influences, it’s a fresh take on pop. To nostalgic alternative lovers, it’s a revival of old but gold sounds. To musical pricks, it’s a slap in the face, but that painful hurdle should be surmounted to enjoy some of the better music on the Top 50 today, regardless of Pitchfork’s pop over-correction pity tour.

Yeah, her music is pretty good. Yeah, she sounds like other artists. Yeah, some of those artists are better. Same story as The Strokes, but at least her parents’ names aren’t blue on Wikipedia.