Photo Credit: Zamar Velez

If there’s one thing that unites Gen-Z’s most popular singer-songwriters, it’s that they all capture – to one extent or another – that being young often sucks. Whereas the last generation of pop stars presented youth exclusively in its brightest, most ecstatic hues (think Kesha’s “TiK ToK” or Katy Perry’s “Teenage Dream”), Phoebe Bridgers and Billie Eilish capture a widespread generational malaise. While, Mitski and Olivia Rodrigo present youth as a constant pendulum swing between crushing lows and dangerous, unsustainable highs. 

GUTS, the long-awaited sophomore effort from Olivia Rodrigo, offers yet more portraits of these dueling extreme states – best exemplified by its two leading singles, “Vampire” and “Bad Idea Right?” The former, essentially a follow-up to her breakthrough “Drivers License,” mines the same sort of visceral, all-consuming heartbreak, as she describes a blood-sucking, fame-f*cking ex who bled her dry. The latter, meanwhile, captures a drunken freefall into an ex’s bed, as Rodrigo breezily brushes off this soon-to-be regret (“f*ck it, it’s fine!”). This ultimately proves to be a pervasive theme on GUTS, that the greatest thrills – sleeping with an ex, keying his car, getting too drunk at a party – always seem to come with severe consequences. 

Of course, the upside of making all these youthful mistakes is the opportunity to learn from them, and clarity emerges among the extremes on GUTS in a way that it didn’t on SOUR. “Vampire” mines the same heartbreak as “Drivers License”, but rather than turning her hurt entirely inwards on “Vampire,” Rodrigo manages to assign blame rationally between her and her ex (“I’ve made some real big mistakes // But you make the worst one look fine”). While, on the half-folk-half-rock opener “All-American B*tch” – as well as “Lacy” – Rodrigo critically examines the societal expectations levied on women, rather than solely internalizing their toxic messaging. On the former, she earnestly claims to embody the many dueling burdens placed on women (“I’m as light as a feather and as stiff as a board”), before casting them off with a snarling declaration, “I’m the perfect all-American b*tch.”

GUTS also benefits from casting off some of SOUR’s self-seriousness. That very teenage hyper-awareness of other opinions has begun to wear off, and as a result Rodrigo’s music now allows space for her to poke fun at herself. The result of this is some of GUTS‘ funniest and most fun moments. On the delightful “Ballad of a Homeschool Girl” – one of many snarling pop-punk numbers here, Rodrigo admits to social awkwardness in hilarious fashion (“Thought your mom was your wife // Called you the wrong name twice // Couldn’t think of a third line // La la la la la”). Elsewhere, on the Alanis Morissette-indebted “Get Him Back!” she makes the most of the song title’s double meaning (“I wanna meet his mom… // Just to tell her son sucks!”)

Following a debut as beloved and wildly successful as SOUR is no easy task, but by any reasonable metric, GUTS is a success – repeating many of SOUR’s most impressive feats without ever sounding like a rehash. That is not to say that GUTS is a faultless follow-up. Though there is no shortage of memorable melodies here, there are a few relatively mid-tempo numbers that get lost amidst the ample highlights (“Logical,” “Making The Bed”). There is also nothing here that sounds as clever or as singular as “Deja Vu.”

But, overall, GUTS is a smarter, more commendable album than the already smart and commendable SOUR. And Rodrigo saves her most incisive commentary for last via “Teenage Dream” – which, in many ways, is the antithesis to Perry’s hit of the same name. Rodrigo expertly explores the downside of the cliché that your youth is “the best time of your life” – namely that once it starts coming to an end, you’re left to fear whether it’s only downhill from there on out. There’s also an unmistakably gendered tilt to the song’s musing, as she questions the retort that she has her whole life ahead of her. The music industry, historically, has cast out women over 30 years old and it’s hard not to feel that reality creeping in on Rodrigo (even, at only 20 years old). Hopefully, the huge success of Beyoncé and Taylor Swift this summer will change that because GUTS suggests that Rodrigo has many years of fantastic music left in her.

Written by: Tom Williams