From The Breeders to Snail Mail, a selection of records that are sure to perk up the ears of Olivia Rodrigo listeners who can’t get enough of GUTS.
It’s an exciting time for music lovers the world over when a young artist comes along and breathes life into the charts with a unique perspective and left-of-centre sonics. With her excellent new album GUTS, produced by long-time collaborator Dan Nigro (Caroline Polachek, Carly Rae Jepsen), former Disney star turned pop-rock wunderkind Olivia Rodrigo has undoubtedly done just that. It’s a pleasing pastiche of singer-songwriter balladry and riot girl grunge providing a (pardon the pun) GUTS-y and welcome shift amidst a pop music landscape that has been largely electronically dominated over the past decade.
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Today we’re diving into a selection of records that are sure to perk up the ears of listeners who can’t get enough of the genre-spanning ear worms this brilliant sophomore LP is packed to the brim with – from scuzzier alt rock cuts to the delicately folksy.
Snail Mail – Valentine
The sophomore album of Maryland born indie rock musician Lindsey Jordan, this record is sure to strike a chord with fans of GUTS who appreciate Olivia Rodrigo’s deft straddling of fuzzy, bleeding heart guitar music and spare electronic pop arrangements. At moments Jordan croons over little more than acoustic picking and minimal strings (“Light Blue”), and at others her strikingly honest mediations on heart break unfurl beneath roaring strums and dissonant droning, as on lead single “Valentine”.
Best Coast – Crazy For You
California band Best Coast’s 2010 album Crazy for You is a delightfully uncomplicated, yet perfectly executed work which lays bare the romantic trials and tribulations of lead singer Bethany Cosentino beneath a lush sugary breeze of surf rock guitars. This one is a must-listen for fans of the reverberant chords and heart-rending lyrical confessions of self doubt on Olivia Rodrigo’s “pretty isn’t pretty”.
Juliana Hatfield Three – Become What You Are
Fans of both Rodrigo’s diaristic, unabashedly girlhood-centric lyrics and sonic homages to the 1990s – look no further. Fronted by the band’s namesake, who cut her teeth in iconic indie bands, from Blake Babies, to Some Girls and The Lemonheads, this record’s most famous single “My Sister” is a thematic sibling of tracks like “lacy” on GUTS, that offer unflinching examinations of complex female relationships.
The Breeders – Last Splash
This 90s alt-rock classic from ex Pixies bassist Kim Deal’s band The Breeders is the perfect follow up listen for anyone drawn to the thudding baselines and dirty, driven guitar tones that add texture and sleaze to GUTS on tracks like “all-american bitch”. Though it certainly has its head-bangers, this record also has its sweeter moments of folksy Americana, epitomised by penultimate track “Drivin’ on 9”.
Edit 14/09/23 – It has just been announced that Olivia is taking The Breeders on her world tour as a main support act!
Dream Wife – Dream Wife
This self titled 2018 LP by the London based indie rock trio consisting of Rakel Mjöll, Alice Go, and Bella Podpadec will scratch the quippy, laissez faire spoken-word itch for fans of tracks on GUTS of the likes of “bad idea right” and “get him back!” Dream Wife additionally manages to strike a satisfying balance of high energy entertainment and poignant self-actualising feminist commentary, much like Rodrigo’s record does.
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