that one girl who reviews

Olivia Rodrigo has once again outdone herself with a stellar sophomore album that is the perfect combination of messy and fun and heart wrenchingly honest. 

GUTS, which dropped on September 8, is a true phenomenon showcasing female beauty, pain, heartbreak and questionable actions through pop punk and soulful ballads. 

Starting with the tongue-in-cheek “all-american bitch” and ending with the brutal truth of “teenage dream,” Rodrigo curates a track run that shouldn’t work but miraculously does, in a way that surpasses her peers and places her right on top. 

“ballad of a homeschooled girl” is the angsty pop punk song that I’m sure will be referred to as the Bible for “teenage girls in their twenties” in the years to come. A perfect mixture between the unique talking she employs on a few of her GUTS tracks and her gritty singing, the song perfectly captures the entire vibe of the album: Rodrigo, much like the rest of us, has no idea what she’s doing. 

However, unlike the rest of us, Rodrigo knows how to perfectly articulate these feelings in a way that transcends universally to the general public. 

“the grudge,” lyrically one of her most beautiful songs, emphasizes how hard it is to let go of something that hurt you. A personal favorite and truly one of the standouts on the album, Rodrigo’s angelic voice shines through and takes the listener on an emotional journey, sure to hit home for those who tend to hold serious grudges. 

The opening track of the album, “all-american bitch,” is some of the most fun you’ll ever have while listening to a song. The pure sarcasm that comes with the verses and the absolute genius of creating a song that’s so blatantly obvious to some (but will definitely go over the heads of others) is something unachieved by many, yet it’s what she has excelled in. 

“All the time/I’m grateful all the time/I’m sexy and I’m kind/I’m pretty when I cry,” closes out the track, rounding out that central theme of what girls are supposed to be and creating a modern-day “What the Hell” by Avril Lavigne. 

“logical” is another one that showcases Rodrigo’s vocals in a way that the album lacks at times. The nonsensical lyrics allow her to expertly depict how love can distort the logistics of every situation. “You got me thinking/2+2=5/and I’m the love of your life” is so simple yet so beautifully put that it honestly is one of the standout lyrics of her entire discography.

Contrarily, “get him back!” is a hilariously fun song that plays on the titular phrase – does she want him back or does she want revenge? Rodrigo answers this by saying both with another pop punk track that is so relatable, sometimes you think she might be writing about you. 

Additionally, the amazing one liner, “But I am my father’s daughter, so maybe I can fix him,” becomes even more amazing when you realize that Rodrigo’s father is a therapist. 

My only gripe with the album is Rodrigo’s choice in the singles released leading up to the drop. While “vampire” and “bad idea right?” are both great in their own right, they don’t hold a candle to the album tracks. However, good things come to those who wait.

The album closer, “teenage dream,” perfectly ends an era meant to define her teenage years. As someone who rose to fame at 18, she was stripped of normalcy during her last few teenage years and she expertly pens this feeling in the closing track.

Starting off as a soft piano ballad, she sings, “They all say that it gets better/it gets better the more you grow/they all say that it gets better/it gets better but what if I don’t?” slowly ascending into a drum-filled chant about doubt and insecurity. 

GUTS is an excellent follow-up to the stellar and remarkably unbelievable success of her debut album SOUR, leaving Rodrigo with only more of an impressive resumè as she builds her name in the music industry.