Olivia Rodrigo's 'GUTS' is a Timeless Pop-Rock Punch in the Gut: Anniversary Album Review
- Abby Anderson
- 4 days ago
- 4 min read
Stand-out tracks: "all-american bitch" “get him back!” “the grudge”
Our favorites: “making the bed” “love is embarrassing” “pretty isn’t pretty”
Release date: September 8, 2023
Label: Geffen Records
For fans of: Sabrina Carpenter, Billie Eilish, Demi Lovato
With her sophomore album GUTS, Olivia Rodrigo came back with a bang, leaving behind the butterflies and heartbreak of her debut and crashing onto the scene with black nail polish, untouchable power vocals, and a badass attitude. Now GUTS is two years removed from it's release, and it remains a distinctive departure from Rodrigo's debut SOUR, but packed full of irresistible cheek, messiness, and raw, overdramatic emotion across a compilation of stunning piano ballads and edgy pop-rock bangers, GUTS stands the test of time and reminds us why Olivia is a star in her own right.
Don't be deceived by the simple guitar and soft vocals at the opening of "all-american bitch," GUTS is just getting started with its chaotic, overdramatic opening track. The juxtaposition between the skull-rattling chorus and lighthearted verses makes this another attention-grabber of an opening track for Olivia. And the chest-heaving screaming that immediately cuts into the "All the time / I'm grateful all the time / I'm sexy and I'm kind / I'm pretty when I cry" of the outro that also blends seamlessly into "bad idea right?" is absolutely incredible.
GUTS ventures into more of a pop-rock sound than SOUR ever did, and "ballad of a homeschooled girl" is the pinnacle of Olivia Rodrigo's rockstar side. It's intentionally messy with electronically distorted vocals, fast-paced word-vomit lyrics, and therapeutically-screamed repetitive "It's social suicide / Wanna curl up and die!" This song is so utterly chaotic it almost makes you lose sight of the social anxiety narrative it's attempting to depict.
“making the bed” is one of the few tracks on GUTS that earns a place in the lyrical all-time greats of Olivia Rodrigo songs. Articulating with incredible detail the crushing weight of anxiety on day-to-day life and the impact it can have on relationships, “I’m so tired of being the girl that I am / Every good thing has turned into something I dread / And I’m playing the victim so well in my head / But it’s me who’s been making the bed” is a poetically stunning way to state, “It’s not you, it’s me.” And following up “making the bed” with “logical” is about the most painful decision Olivia could have made in tracklisting; “logical” illustrates the pain of realizing that someone isn’t who you believed them to be, with gut-twisting lyrics like “You got me thinking / Two plus two equals five / and I’m the love of your life.” Ouch.
Better wipe your tears away quickly, because with “get him back!” we “wanna make him feel jealous, wanna make him feel bad.” This is Olivia Rodrigo at her best—cheeky, clever, naïve, and pissed off. The lyrical play back and forth of wanting to “get him back” either in terms of wanting to get back together or seek revenge is incredibly well executed, and “wanna meet his mom / just to tell her son sucks” is one of about a million absolutely hilarious and highly therapeutic lines in this hit. This theme carries into “love is embarrassing,” which is the dancier, poppier, more self-deprecating sequel to the previous track. There isn’t a whole lot of substance to this one, but “Just watch as I crucify myself / for some weird second-string / loser who's not worth mentioning / my God, love's embarrassing as hell” is about as classically maniacal as Olivia Rodrigo gets.
If you thought we were done with heartbreak on GUTS, “the grudge” rounds out the piano ballads with the deepest ache thus far. “You built me up to watch me fall / you have everything and you still want more” is sung with soul-crushing passion, and ending the track with open-ended “It takes strength to forgive / I’m not quite sure I’m there yet / It takes strength to forgive but…” makes the heartbreak feel palpable. This is about as close to “driver’s license” as you’ll find on GUTS.
The messy, heartbroken chaos of GUTS concludes the only way that makes sense—with more heartbroken, messy chaos. On the surface, “teenage dream” seems to reference the lyric from SOUR’s “brutal,” when Olivia asked “Where’s my fucking teenage dream?” and structurally parallels Billie Eilish’s “Happier Than Ever,” with its soft, pared-back opening that crescendos into blown-out head-banging “They all say it gets better / it gets better the more you grow / Yeah, they all say that it gets better / Well, what if I don’t?” Now that GUTS has spent the last two years granting Olivia a few more Grammy nominations, chocking up commercial accolades that shine above even her closest peers, and leading to sold-out arenas, stadiums, and festivals around the globe, seems its safe to say that yes, Olivia, it does get better.
TO LEARN MORE ABOUT OLIVIA RODRIGO:
