Olivia Rodrigo, The New York Times, and a Cultural Banana Republic

Shaping up to be a Taylor Swift protégé in more ways than one, 20-year-old pop star Olivia Rodrigo is giving the Ticketmaster servers a run for their money lately. Just days after announcing a 57-date world tour, she quickly expanded it to 75 shows, with an overage of demand that has created nothing short of a mania.

Rodrigo is fresh off the release of her sophomore album, GUTS. Unlike her debut, the similarly titled SOUR, which saw the then Disney graduate halted into full-blown pop stardom, GUTS has real momentum – largely because Rodrigo, and her sole collaborator, Daniel Nigro, are apt at taking note.

SOUR’s energy peaked with its thrashing opener, “Brutal.” While not perfect (talking about those programmed drums in particular), “Brutal” showed a punk rock side that most weren’t expecting from the 18-year-old whose crowning jewel before SOUR was a musical extension of the Disney hit, High School Musical.

From there, the album slumped out. Barring its apex, “Deja Vu,” and the sneaky indie pop deep cut “Jealousy, Jealousy,” the rest of SOUR suffered from ballad-itis. None of the songs were bad in a vacuum, but as a whole, discounting the Paramore knockoff, the album lacked bravado and energy.

GUTS doesn’t have this problem.

Wasting no time getting into the instantly classic “All-American Bitch,” then headfirst into what is undoubtedly one of the most interesting rock tracks of the year in “Bad Idea Right?,” Rodrigo and Nigro hashed out a definition quickly. GUTS, coincidentally enough, has more guts than its predecessor. CONTINUE READING