olivia rodrigo sets a record

I like it, but the vocal similarity to Lorde is more distracting on this one... also not feeling the distorted beat so much.

i actually like it better than "drivers license," which i never really warmed to

'i hate to think that i was just your type' is a good line

it's like a polished, major label version of like, 00s indie pop, which at least feels a little distinctive but fitting in with broader trends. i like it more than "driver's license" for sure

she's clearly going to continue to be huge

I still don’t get it and I find her very un-charismatic. I’ve seen her a dozen times already and I can’t remember her face once the music video is over.

The beat gives me 2000s Dave Fridmann feels.

(Wasn’t Billy Joel referenced in another Zoomer anthem recently? Is he having a moment?)

https://pitchfork.com/news/olivia-rodrigo-details-debut-album-sour/

I liked the placeholder title (*O*R) and artwork a lot better:

https://i5.walmartimages.com/asr/c2448614-0667-485d-b116-49a3187d7dcf.2e50766d10ee999d1be0fbc156e0f069.jpeg?odnWidth=612&odnHeight=612&odnBg=ffffff

that's channel purple

i don't really know where else to post this, but my daughter is into American Idol and so i watch it with her (and enjoy it! not trying to pretend otherwise) and i was just gobsmacked at the number of 15-year-olds who walked in and auditioned this season by playing a *good* song they wrote and performing it flawlessly, often on piano but sometimes on guitar. there are a whole army of Olivia Rodrigos on the way, i think.

good! bring 'em on

"(Wasn’t Billy Joel referenced in another Zoomer anthem recently? Is he having a moment?)"

oh maybe, I seem to regularly see him referenced on twitter by people younger than me without the derisiveness he justly deserves, so that would explain that.

this alternate (Target) artwork is godawful!

https://target.scene7.com/is/image/Target/GUEST_c4984bd5-b5ac-4c4a-afbe-b8c0ce840257?fmt=pjpeg&wid=700&qlt=80

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgOl2bdevqM

this one's pretty good, hope she can keep things up for the album. my only complaint is the last chorus needed to be a bit longer!

I think it’s awesome, best one yet!

She’s on SNL this weekend.

I had not heard Drivers License until this week and goddamn that is a teenage anthem.

she needs to cover new ground lyrically lol

for the sake of balance i'll say i like "deja vu" more w/ each listen

It’s funny/cute how each song strategically has one (1) swear word.

The chorus of this new song hits some 1995 sweet spot for me, man…

(and the bridge into washed-out verse, before it all comes crashing in again, is a great move)

I mean when you say "1995 sweet spot" do you mean something more diffuse or do you specifically mean this is like "You Oughtta Know," which it is, and Rodrigo directly says she wants the album to be like Jagged Little Pill

I wasn’t thinking about album specifically (but I like this better than that!)

The melody does remind me of something specific from around that time, but I can’t put my finger on it…

I like almost nothing better than "You Oughta Know," I put it on after listening to "Good 4 You" and goosebumps all the way down my spine just like in 1995, jesus

Has anyone heard any other stuff by this dude Dan Nigro – the indie rocker turned popsmith who’s co-writing and producing these tunes?

much prefer "good 4 u" and its Juliana Hatfield moves to anything else she's released but I wish this style of vocal affectation would disappear

yes ilxors have heard dan nigro's songs w/ sky ferreira two of which placed in our year-end polls iirc xp

plus another year-end finisher w/ caroline polachek "so hot you're hurting my feelings" (v good)

personally have also heard the conan gray singles (not good)

Gotcha, thx (xxp – Juliana Hatfield is a good reference point, btw)

She sounded good on SNL! Yeah, she can sing.

The band was a little lackluster… I guess Dan Nigro was the scrubby guy she hugged at the end (judging by this pic of him).

Nigro says since working with Grey, his inbox is filled daily with new artists' pitches -- but Olivia Rodrigo immediately captured his attention. He quickly went on her Instagram and found a clip of a song called “Happier,” saying, “I just got the chills and I was like, ‘Oh my God, her voice is insane.’ I literally DM’d her that second and was like, ‘Hey, I think you're amazing. We should make music.’”

I don't see that as creepy. She was applying for a job that he accepted.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kiaCdUACJp8

sounds like "Misery Business" to me

I don't hear it

this new track is fucking excellent

It's stupid good... like maybe the best song in this style I've ever heard. (After a weekend of listening, I have the subjective data to upgrade it from my initial "this is cool" assessment to "this is truly great.")

"good 4 u" was made 4 me

second #1

https://i.imgur.com/ty8C7Vo.jpg

album is pretty good! a very solid pop-singer-songwriter debut. she indeed really could use more lyrical range though lol

highlights are "brutal" with its elvis costello interpolation and "jealousy, jealousy"

My CD arrives tmrrw!

OK, listening online now... "1 Step Forward, 3 Steps Back" is sure one for the songs that sound like other songs books, LOL

swift & antonoff are credited on it for the "new year's day" rip

Haha, yeah just looked that up.

they should have credited costello though for "brutal"

which EC song does that "interpolate"?

(I'm hearing the above-discussed Alanis similarities more in the context of the full album)

she indeed really could use more lyrical range though lol

haha - by the time you get to "Happier," it's almost like a parody of a breakup album ("We broke up a month ago..."). I like a good waltz, tho

pump it up xp

"Jealousy, Jealousy" is indeed a cool jam

This is pretty much what I was expecting – some solid songs, some ok songs – though maybe a little restrained overall... I wish they swung for the fences a little more, and got even more enjoyably straight-faced cheesy.

(though I can apparently barely write a coherent sentence, so who am I to talk)

omfg "brutal"

he said he saw a dad with a ‘Dad Idea, Right?’ shirt on.

Levelled-up Dad, right there.

What in God’s name do you people hear in this generic shitmusic? Just the blandest pop music I’ve heard in quite some time with high school poetry lyrics. Granted I’ve only heard the “You’re a… dreamcrusher” one and “Get Him Back”, but still. WORST CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED ARTIST EVER OF THE DECADE EVER.

Those capital letters are cute

Go Girl!

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/music-news/olivia-rodrigo-hands-out-condoms-morning-after-pills-guts-tour-1235851618/

In a social media post, a fan who attended the St. Louis tour stop shared a photo of two emergency contraceptive pill boxes. On top of them was a purple, square sticker that read, “Funding abortions? It’s a good idea, right?” seemingly a reference to Rodrigo’s song, “bad idea right?”

In addition to providing contraceptives at her shows, the singer-songwriter also has National Network of Abortion Funds tables set up at each tour location.

...or not.

https://variety.com/2024/music/news/olivia-rodrigo-abortion-funds-not-allowed-distribute-plan-b-condom-1235943079/

Organizers tell Variety that after widespread media attention, local abortion funds were told Thursday afternoon that they were no longer allowed to hand out free emergency birth control pills and other reproductive health resources at the concerts.

According to three sources at local abortion funds, that decision came from Rodrigo’s team and was relayed over Slack by the National Network of Abortion Funds, which partnered with the pop star to set up booths at each of her North American tour stops. Jade Hurley, the communications manager for the DC Abortion Fund, says the NNAF said Rodrigo’s team preferred they no longer pass out lubrication, condoms and Plan B because “children are present at the concerts.”

“The reality is that youth have sex, and youth need access to birth control and emergency contraception,” Hurley tells Variety over the phone. “What we’re doing is completely legal in all 50 states.”

A representative for Rodrigo did not immediately respond to Variety‘s request for comment.