Pitchfork gives 8 to Olivia’s GUTS

[monstertoronto 8,748]

Pitchfork loves Olivia Rodrigo’s new album GUTS. 

One excerpt;

Guts, her uproarious second album, is a collection of bratty rocker-chick anthems and soul-searching ballads that could slot into the soundtrack of any classic high school flick, from 10 Things I Hate About You to this year’s ludicrous queer sex comedy Bottoms. While it might seem tailored to zoomers, several generations will hear the music of their youth: from Blondie and Toni Basil, to Hole and Letters to Cleo, to Avril Lavigne and the Veronicas, to the more recent Lorde. Rodrigo faces a familiar cast of antagonists: shitty boys, social anxiety, bad self-image, and competitive obsessions with other beautiful women. On the pop-punk freakout “ballad of a homeschooled girl,” she spirals over her various party faux pas—smashing glasses, blabbing too much—and wonders, once again, why a girl can’t catch a break. She might as well have called the album Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen: “Everything I do is tragic/Every guy I like is gay,” she sighs exasperatedly, a theater girl to her core.

Full review: https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/olivia-rodrigo-guts/amp/

they also love “Get him back!”, which is my fave song on this album. 

[River 104,909]

I expected them to give her like 2-5, because they are assholes.

I don't think it's an 8 album, it is a fun and great album, I liked almost every song, but it's basically a dlc of SOUR, it still feels like her singing and lyrics lack of direction and very amateur and almost zero growth between the 2 albums. but I guess I'm not the target of her audience, so if I see it in a teenager to mid 20s person pov, the album is pretty good.

[Railing 2,296]

5 minutes ago, River said:

almost zero growth between the 2 albums

idk, she was a teen making both albums. I'd say GUTS is a good expansion of sonic ideas on SOUR (more specifically Brutal) that didn't get enough room to breathe on that album, and it makes total sense for her brand to do this now.

[skedaddleBItCh 2,768]

23 minutes ago, River said:

I expected them to give her like 2-5, because they are assholes.

I don't think it's an 8 album, it is a fun and great album, I liked almost every song, but it's basically a dlc of SOUR, it still feels like her singing and lyrics lack of direction and very amateur and almost zero growth between the 2 albums. but I guess I'm not the target of her audience, so if I see it in a teenager to mid 20s person pov, the album is pretty good.

Hmm weird, cuz most would say the exact opposite, like more control and experimenting over her voice, expanding the pop-rock sound of her previous album with very fun lyrics, and songwriting being quite more mature especially for someone who's going into their 20s. Whilst being bratty in a way, it still has a sense of maturity to it wherein they are self-aware of what they had done and what could've been done.

[Future Lovers 6,447]

1 hour ago, River said:

I expected them to give her like 2-5, because they are assholes.

I don't think it's an 8 album, it is a fun and great album, I liked almost every song, but it's basically a dlc of SOUR, it still feels like her singing and lyrics lack of direction and very amateur and almost zero growth between the 2 albums. but I guess I'm not the target of her audience, so if I see it in a teenager to mid 20s person pov, the album is pretty good.

See I found the opposite, I felt like she took the best but most underused part of Sour (the pop-rock sound) and amplified it. She heard what people connected to most sonically and allowed that to take center stage while not sacrificing her relatable songwriting which she also managed to greatly improve upon. Its more than DLC, it’s a more refined and studied counterpart to Sour. I think a lot of people are missing that it’s supposed to be a continuation and think she’s just copy + pasting and calling it new when the reality is this is very much meant to be a polished update on Sour and sort of a “how it feels now” check in on its themes. 

[Roughhouse Dandy 8,411]

Wild but sure I guess. Congrats to her

[CyanLights 15,503]

Is the 8 in the room with them

[monstertoronto 8,748]

22 hours ago, River said:

I expected them to give her like 2-5, because they are assholes.

I don't think it's an 8 album, it is a fun and great album, I liked almost every song, but it's basically a dlc of SOUR, it still feels like her singing and lyrics lack of direction and very amateur and almost zero growth between the 2 albums. but I guess I'm not the target of her audience, so if I see it in a teenager to mid 20s person pov, the album is pretty good.

I disagree. I don’t think most of the fast songs sound like Sour. She goes much further into pop rock and even 80s alt here. And her lyrics are much funnier and scathing and sarcastic here. On Sour the lyrics all seemed to be very obviously about the same situation./boy, but this album tackles expectations on the female role, toxic beauty culture, and other topics with much more verge and comedy than her first album. And her vocals are so much more confident and sassy and she sounds like a total rock star here in my opinion.