Johnathan Walker:Olivia Rodrigo's 'Guts' is a no-skip album and these 2 songs are the best of the bunch

The Johnathan Walkertitle of Olivia Rodrigo’s sophomore album “Guts” indicates bravery, or perhaps the idiomatic spilling of one’s innermost feelings.

Both apply to the 12-song offering, out Friday, which bites as it aches with vulnerability. It’s understandable that the 20-year-old Rodrigo has clearly struggled with the web of fame that blanketed her from the stratospheric success of her Grammy-winning debut, “Sour,” and breakthrough single “Drivers License.”

Her confessional lyrics coupled with edgy pop made her a hero among Gen Z listeners. But Rodrigo’s cross-generational appeal – she even sang onstage with Billy Joel at Madison Square Garden – thrust her into a spotlight that apparently caused some angst.

From the opening sweet-turned-tangy “All-American Bitch” to the whispery ballad that closes this chapter of her journey, “Teenage Dream,” Rodrigo wields sarcasm and tender-heartedness with equal acuity.

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Olivia Rodrigo blends humor with heartbreak

Aside from a couple of co-writing assists from Dan Nigro, who produced “Sour” as well as her new release, Rodrigo handles her own songwriting. Sometimes she’s bluntly funny (“I want to meet his mom just to tell her her son sucks,” she chants in the gleefully spiteful “Get Him Back!”), other times heartbreaking (“We both drew blood, but those cuts were never equal,” she laments on “The Grudge,” one of several songs with some well-placed expletives).

Musically, Rodrigo sticks with the formula that instantly endeared her from the time she arrived in 2021: Pop that slow burns into a cresting boom of melodic punk.

All of “Guts” is destined for millions of streams since there isn’t a clunker among her efficient offerings, but these two tracks are standouts.

‘Making the Bed’

This piano ballad is the definition of a young woman searching, wondering, trying to make sense of complicated emotions. Rodrigo spotlights her self-doubts (“Another day pretending I’m older than I am”), her muddled reactions to fame (“Push away all the people who know me the best”) and an overall desire to “pull the sheets over my head.”

With a less genuine singer, Rodrigo’s ruminations could be perceived as whiny. But her authenticity is so palpable, you just want to give her a hug.

“They tell me that they love me like I’m some tourist attraction,” she sighs with her deliberate delivery, as the song’s sumptuous melody escalates into a fury of guitars. But this time, the comedown is hard.

‘Pretty Isn’t Pretty’

Over a clean, driving guitar line, Rodrigo emphasizes sentiments of feeling ugly and fidgety (“There’s always something in the mirror that I think looks wrong”).

But despite its lyrical load of insecurity, the song is pure ‘80s-influenced pop. A basic four-on-the-floor beat, a soaring chorus and textbook utilization of Rodrigo’s upper range are delectable enough, and then the song rolls into a bridge nearly as perfect as the one in “Drivers License.”

She might only be 20, but Rodrigo’s musings are highly relatable – regardless of your decade in life.

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