Olivia Rodrigo’s GUTS sounds familiar in the best way possible
Olivia Rodrigo's GUTS is here, and it's already being compared to other artists. But isn't that a good thing?

Olivia Rodrigo predicted what would become her debut album’s biggest problem on the track “jealousy, jealousy”: “Com-comparison is killin’ me slowly,” she sang. Of course, that was about the perils of the Instagram age, but it proved prescient when listeners started comparing SOUR to other artists. The chatter was so loud the budding pop star was forced to hand out royalties to Taylor Swift, Jack Antonoff, St. Vincent, and Paramore.
At the time, Rodrigo told Teen Vogue she found it “disappointing to see people take things out of context and discredit any young woman’s work.” More recently, she reflected for The Guardian, “I was so green as to how the music industry worked, the litigious side. I feel like now I know so much more about the industry and I just feel… better equipped in that regard.” When it came time to write her sophomore album, she claimed the perils of pop plagiarism “wasn’t something I thought about too much.”
Now that GUTS is here, though, Rodrigo’s fans are definitely thinking about it. Across Twitter, Reddit, and TikTok, people are pulling apart the tracklist and trying to identify each sound. The Internet says “pretty isn’t pretty” sounds like The Cure, and “bad idea right?” cribs from Wet Leg’s “chaise lounge.” One popular TikTok (which has nearly 900,000 views at the time of writing) makes a connection between the chorus of “all-american bitch” and fellow Disney alum Miley Cyrus’ “Start All Over.” Other possible artist influences include Katy Perry, Avril Lavigne, The Killers, Hole, Simon and Garfunkel, Phoebe Bridgers… the list goes on. Then of course there’s the inescapable Taylor Swift, whom some fans speculate is the inspiration behind tracks like “lacy” or “the grudge,” the latter of which includes the lyric, “You built me up to watch me fall/You have everything and you still want more.” (Since Swift has cornered the market on writing songs about public feuds, so does that count as double inspiration?)
@conspiringmila