A Track-By-Track Review Of Olivia Rodrigo's SOUR

As I am wont to do, I arrived very late to the Olivia Rodrigo hype train. In fact, I nearly missed it altogether; in one of the first signs that I'm nowhere near as hip as I used to be (which is saying quite a lot, because I never as really hip at all), it took my Gen Z younger brother alerting me to "drivers license" to learn about what a phenomenon Rodrigo's breakout hit was.

Even then I was somewhat immune to the hype; having not been immediately enamored with "drivers license"-- more on that later --I didn't delve much deeper into the young starlet's music or appeal, and certainly missed the full extent of the buzz surrounding the release of her debut album SOUR. However, thanks to living on Twitter (where seemingly every single individual I followed was talking about it), and Rodrigo's increased exposure on TV with cameos on virtually all talk shows, Saturday Night Live, what have you, I eventually came to realize that if I were going to keep The Couch up to date with the best and buzziest music of today, I was going to have to give this album a listen.

So that's how we end up here, where I'm sitting alone in my home, listening to a pop album that was absolutely not written for me, preparing my live gut reactions to every track. I recognize and affirm that more than likely, you won’t care what I think about it; nor should you! SOUR has connected, I think, with so many women in particular who know the special kind of teenage heartbreak and angst that most men cannot understand. But I will say, as a relative #softboi who has had plenty of heartache in his own life, I think there’s a good chance for some commiseration here. I pledge to go in with an open mind at least. Here we go:

"brutal"

Boy, the album opener transitioned from Avril Lavigne to Billie Eilish real fast. There's no question this opens the album up with a good amount of energy, but truthfully, I just don't love the angsty teen rock sound that much. That said, I did like the lyrics a whole lot. "And I don't stick up for myself/I'm anxious and nothing can help/And I wish I'd done this before/And I wish people liked me more" ... oof, SPEAK to me, Olivia!!

"traitor"

Ah yes. Much more my speed. Slow, atmospheric heartbreak is my musical love language.

"drivers license"

I've aired this take on this blog a couple times already, but I felt about this song the way a lot of #whitedudes felt about the rise of Billie-mania in 2019... I don't really get it? It's not bad by any means, but it feels like a pretty basic teen ballad. Would I like it more if it wasn't SO huge? Sure, I'll own that. My contrarian bias plays a role, but I still don't think this is anywhere near the best song on the album, even if I do like it more in the context of the album than I did as a standalone single.

"1 step forward, 3 steps back"

Whenever there's a run of several slow piano songs in a row, you run the risk of the album hitting a lull, or beginning to feel monotonous. That's not really the case here, as this one feels different enough from the preceding track to still feel fresh. Really solid song, one that feels like folklore-era Taylor Swift.

"deja vu"

This is one of the few songs I had already heard coming into my first full listen on Sour, and I'll admit I already knew I liked it. Still....this song SLAPS. It's easily catchy, appropriately moody, yet different thematically from the rest of her songs. 100% the best track on the album thus far.

"good 4 u"

Unfortunately, "deja vu" quickly transitions to my least favorite track on the album thus far. I get why people love it! It's cathartic as hell. It just boils down to personal preference; I don't really miss the angsty punk pop of the early 2000s that this draws inspiration from, and this particular song just reminds me of more than one Taylor Swift song that bugged me to no end.

"enough for you"

Musically, this is probably the least memorable track thus far, as it's just a simple strumming guitar in accompaniment. But that doesn't mean it's not good. Olivia is belting on this song, and lyrically, it's up there with my favorites, expertly weaving blame for her heartbreak both inward and outward.

"happier"

This plays like "drivers license" meets R.E.M.'s "Everybody Hurts." It definitely has more of an edge than either of those two, though, which is a nice tonal shift from just the pure sadness of several preceding songs.

"jealousy, jealousy"

Really good stuff. This definitely is more in the "brutal" and "good 4 u" vein, but it's a little more restrained. This wouldn't feel out of place on a Florence + The Machine album, which, tbh, is one of the highest compliments I can give someone.

"favorite crime"

This is another example of simple-but-solid from Olivia. I don't think this one will have a shelf life like many of the other tracks on this album might, but it's once again heartfelt and effective.

"hope ur ok"

The album closes on a much different note than it opened with, in multiple ways. Where we were introduced to SOUR with door-kicking, gut-busting anger at an ex-flame, "hope ur ok" closes the album with a softer tone. Rodrigo both tells the story of and dedicates the song to friends of old that she's lost touch with, but admires to this day due to their strength amidst growing up in close-minded homes. It's, quite simply, a gorgeous message and a startlingly poignant note on which to conclude her debut album.

Some parting thoughts: I think I came into SOUR expecting a dramatic reaction one way or another. I was either going to really find this album overrated and draw the ire of the masses, or I was going to fully buy in and declare this THE album of the year. To my surprise, though, I find myself somewhere on between, albeit much closer to the latter.

Not to play into the “create fake rivalries between female artists” trope, but simply for the sake of comparison, I don’t find SOUR necessarily groundbreaking the way I did the debut releases from fellow teen sensations Lorde and Billie Eilish. And there were certainly two or three tracks I could have done without, which was not true of Pure Heroine or When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? But! I refuse to blame Olivia Rodrigo for her own hype, especially when the hype is not unwarranted. This is a very good— 8/10 at the very least —album from a young artist who clearly has a seriously impressive songwriting future ahead of her. And in truth, in an era that seems to reward music that is highly mixed and produced, there is something deeply refreshing about an up-and-coming artist whose breakout is borne out of a simple, stripped-down sound.