Olivia Rodrigo - "GUTS" (2023)

Disney kid Olivia Rodrigo burst onto into pop stratosphere in 2021 with a string of smash hit singles from her debut record, SOUR. These singles incorporated a lot of early noughties pop rock and pop punk aesthetics which grabbed the attention of a lot of people, but for me what really caught me was the quality of the songwriting. In an era where the charts were full of viral barely 2-minute tiktok songs with half a verse and a one line chorus, Olivia was writing proper fully fledged songs with structure and a level of depth. Admittedly I didn't ever get around to listening to the full record, but Rodrigo was definitely on my radar as a pop artist worth paying attention to.

That casual interest turned into genuine anticipation with the release of this albums lead single, vampire. The song initially starts as a more mature parallel to her breakout song Drivers Licence. Both are slow piano ballads lamenting a shitty ex after a break up. vampire has a more 'classic' feel to it off the bat and Olivia's perspective is a bit less teenage melodrama and more emotionally raw, but both songs start off fairly similar. But as vampire progresses, it develops into a wildly different beast. The pace picks up with every verse-chorus cycle, the drum beat kicks in, and by the end of the song, it's more glam rock showstopper than piano pop ballad. That quality is present throughout the entire album, ideas aren't repeated twice, rather built upon and permutated to create some incredibly catchy and replayable songs. Second single, bad idea right? also demonstrates this with how the super catchy backing vocals on the chorus never stay the same each time it rolls around, starting off very clean and 'poppy' and becoming increasingly chopped up and processed throughout the song. The song is so damn fun, as Olivia sings about a one-night stand with a former flame that all her friends would say is a 'bad idea'. It also features a fuzzed out bluesy guitar solo outro, which is about the last thing I would expect from a big single from a major pop artist.

The whole first half of the record is exceptional, opening up with all-american bitch, a very Avril Lavigne-esque pop punk blowout about the pressure to be polite and permissible and 'not a bitch' that young women face growing up. The track is very dynamic, alternating between these quaint acoustic sections and brash in your face punky parts. Rodrigo outright screams towards the end, which again is such a brave choice that I just wouldn't expect from a record from a Disney backed pop act. It also has a brilliant transition into bad idea right?. lacy is an acoustic singer-songwriter tune that gives off more Lorde vibes and even as someone who is clearly not the target audience for the song, it really hits hard. the song personifies the beauty and personality standards imposed upon girls as the titular character of the song, Lacy (or that's at least how I take it). It's not about the systems that create these standards, but the weird obsession with the idea of a perfect person 'that must exist' that it creates in people. It's a really unique and multilayered take on the topic. 

My first thought when hearing ballad of a homeschooled girl was "This sounds like pixies", but considering the themes of the record, Olivia's general influences and the fact that she's brought them on tour with her, Kim Deal's following band Breeders is a better comparison. The bouncy baseline, the soft-loud dynamics, the misfit / outcast lyrics just scream late 80s / early 90s indie and alt rock. I did find it a little jarring initially as in interviews and across the rest of the record Olivia comes across so self assured and confident, but regardless the song is an absolute banger and so god-damn catchy. The first half closes out with making the bed, the first time the record really slows down. The song is a really well written piano slowburn about self sabotage. Its clever and mature, and I really like it.

The second half isn't quite as consistent, but there are some really high high-points on it. Logical is a song I feel kind of mixed on. The song has moments of some really great lyricism (the bridge is brutal - pardon the pun) and Olivia's performance is so raw and emotional, but it is also one of the more straightforward piano pop ballads on the record and does start to run its main hook of "love isn't logical" into the ground by the end of the song. Similarly, lyrically the grudge hits like a truck, but musically its probably the most forgettable song on the album. pretty isn't pretty didn't initially leave much of an impression on me, with a pretty run of the mill new wave instrumental and lyrics tackling women's beauty standards which I thought were covered much better by lacy earlier in the record. However, I'm such a sucker for that kind of style and Olivia's voice suits it so well it's grown on me a lot.

Nestled in between these songs is two really great power pop breakup tunes, the first being get him back!. Olivia details the childish desire to hurt back the person who hurt you in a really self aware and tounge-in-cheek way. The chanted chorus and deadpan delivery are a lot of fun. love is embarrassing is even catchier with its driving baseline and booming hook, "Cause now it don't mean a thing, God love's fucking embarrassing" Olivia wails at the top of her voice. The inflections she puts on during the back end of the song just make it for me, they're unrestrained and kind of batshit. The closer, teenage dream, is also really solid, and a great way to close up the records themes. The song is a slowburn piano ballad that blossoms into a rapturous finale, where Olivia unfurls her insecurities regarding growing older and the stress of expectations. "What if they got all the best parts of me?" she asks, which is something everyone growing up can relate to regardless of whether your a pop susperstar or not - the idea of 'what if life is already as good as it gets and its all downhill from here?". 

GUTS is a really adventurous and incredibly well written pop record. It doesn't pin itself in a box of following the trends and is better off for it. It's clever and witty, and has a lot of depth to it. I think Olivia is going to go on to do some really great things in the pop sphere and GUTS is definitely the first of them.

Top Tracks: all-american bitch, bad idea right?, vampire, lacy, ballad of a homeschooled girl, making the bed, get him back!, love is embarrassing, pretty isn't pretty, teenage dream

8/10

Nothing But Thieves - "Dead Club City" (2023)

Nothing But Thieves' last album, 2020's Moral Panic, has grown on me somewhat in the years since it's release. I think that I was in that pandemic malaise where the real world felt like a hazy memory and a record that was primarily focused on how shit the world is didn't really land for me at the time. However once reality set back in I found myself putting it on occasionally when I was in the mood for something nihilistic and aggressive. It's still a flawed record, the writing is fairly basic and on the nose and there are a few too many radio friendly ballads on it, but it had a bit more staying power than I gave it credit for at the time.

Dead Club City, however, has taken everything that didn't work with Moral Panic and doubled down on it, and stripped away all the things that worked about that album (and honestly the bands overall general appeal). The album is a very edgy, synth and electronic heavy concept album about the titular fictional city which is supposed to represent how the internet or social media (or something of that ilk) can consume you and take you out of reality - I think. I say 'I think' because if it wasn't for the obviousness of the album title and opening track Welcome To The DCC, I wouldn't have picked up on it being a narrative concept album, it's really vague and underdeveloped.

The opening track was the first teaser we got from the record and left me really apprehensive of where the band were going to go with the album, as it really didn't land for me. From the cheesy synth-funk base line, to the tacky modulated guitar solo and Connor Mason's vague sloganistic lyrics, it really reminds me of the 80's pastiche trite that Muse have been peddling for the past couple of years. It's just a very bland and tacky song. The following singles didn't inspire much more confidence in me to be honest. Overcome has grown on me a little since I first heard it, its perfectly serviceable but it's straight up the most formulaic and predictable new wave tune I've heard in a long time. Everything about it is something done a thousand times before: the driving drums and bassline, the broad lyrics about overcoming a mountainous challenge, the overdriven guitar solo. Keeping You Around is built around a bland and repetitive trap beat and the song barely has a melody. Connor drearily sings the hook and I can barely keep my eyes open throughout it.

Nestled in between Overcome and Keeping You Around is by far the best song on the record, Tomorrow Is Closed. The song is certainly the most complete and original on the album, being a bouncy and catchy break up tune. The track doesn't try anything gimmicky, focusing on the core song rather than any aesthetic or presentation. It's got Connor's best performance on the album, and the overall feel of it reminds me of an edgier more aggressive Keane song. I making a point of how this song gets the basics right because nearly everything following on the album doesn't. Pretty much every track is underwritten and repetitive, relying on a singular gimmick and crass overstuffed production (usually including some really trashy synth tones). I think it's important to note that the album is the first one the band have self-produced and I think it quite obviously shows.

City Haunts' gimmick is Connor singing the chorus in his highest possible register, and that combined with the returning tacky funk synth/guitar bass line makes the track feel like a bad Scissor Sisters' song rather than NBT. Do You Love Me Yet? has no idea what it is, having some of the worst lyrics of the whole album, so many unnecessary synths and effects, a random low-key kind of Beetles-y middle 8 that doesn't fit and fuzzed out guitar solo bolted on to the end of the track. Members Only continues on the trend of trying to make very raw and fuzzed out guitar work with the clean and plastic-y synths, as does the closer Pop The Balloon which is egregiously edgy and closes the album off with a really bad taste in the mouth.

Green Eyes :: Sienna is a more stripped back acoustic ballad 2/3 of the way in to the album and is actually an okay song. It's nothing special, but the fact that the band hasn't smothered it in tat makes it stand out above the rest, especially on the second half. Foreign Language and Talking To Myself follow it and frankly drag. They don't have the annoying gimmicks of some of the other songs, but they don't have much interesting going on, don't utilise any of the band's strengths and the production still isn't great.

When I first heard Dead Club City I really didn't like it as it basically fails at everything it attempts and does away with the band's strength and appeal. Despite the fuzzed out guitars and overall edginess, its barely a rock album really - most of these songs a quite toothless at their core. Yet they for the most part have no pop sensibility and are not catchy and rely on annoying gimmicks to grab your attention. Connor's amazing vocal ability is barely used, and the only time he really gets to show off is for the gimmick chorus in City Haunts. However, over the couple of listens since I've softened a little, as at least the band has earnestly attempted something different, even if it really hasn't worked. It's not cynical, it's not safe, it's just not very good.

Top Tracks: Tomorrow Is Closed

4/10