Olivia Rodrigo is our Pop-Punk Princess on "bad idea right?"

Olivia Rodrigo just released her second single “bad idea right?” from her upcoming sophomore album Guts, and BOY am I hooked on this song. Olivia has dipped her toes into the pop punk category before with tracks on her first album, Sour, including “Brutal” and “Good 4 u,” but never like this before. Her vocals, catchy lyrics, and original delivery on this song are impressive and showcase why she is pop music’s newest it girl. 

Something I appreciate about Olivia’s music is her ability to create cohesive albums without any track sounding the same. Even though she has been heavily influenced by punk bands like Paramore on her past album, she still manages to release tracks that are original and standouts in their own right. “Bad idea right” sounds like it could be the big sister of “brutal,” and I am obsessed with that parallel. 

This track has me immediately captivated by the cover art. It’s giving Scream Queens meets Pretty Little Liars meets pop music icon - this cover is genuinely one of my favorites from Olivia ever. The heavy drums in the beginning of the track establishes this as a rock/punk song, leaving me excited for what's to come. Olivia’s innocent yet edgy voice makes her perfect for this niche genre. She sells the ‘I’m just a teenage girl I don’t know what I’m doing’ trope like no one else in the game right now. It’s reminiscent of Avril Lavigne’s earlier discography, which I would have played at my funeral. If other songs on Guts fall into this genre, you can expect a 5-star review from me. 

As Olivia melodically speaks her way through the first verse, the refrain hits with gorgeous vocals for the first time (but not the last) on this track. This refrain is perfect to me. I found it captivating, extremely catchy, and sonically beautiful. I also like the way Olivia switches it up by adding some voice effects on the second repetition of the refrain. 

Now we make it to the chorus of this track. This chorus feels like my best friend is begging and pleading with me to not be mad at her because she just slept with her ex who treated her like gum on the bottom of his shoe. The chanting rock and roll vibe of this chorus has me head banging and hair flipping all alone in the car. I can’t think of any other artist who could pull off this chorus without making it sound cheesy; Olivia managed to portray her sass and edge flawlessly on this chorus. She admits to herself that only seeing her ex as a friend is “the biggest lie I ever said.” Hilarious, relatable, and almost too catchy to the point where I will be singing this around the house having zero ex boyfriends on my roster. The same goes for the line “I just tripped and fell into his bed.”

The second verse of this song is also exceptional, mostly because of the way Olivia says “in whose sheets.” The first time I heard that line I went absolutely feral; the added humorous delivery on this line is spectacular and one of the most memorable pieces of this track. I can almost guarantee that this specific part of this song will be a Tik Tok sound in T-2 days. As we move onto the second chorus and the bridge, I was shocked but pleasantly surprised at the instrumental portion. The electric guitar shredded through the bridge on top of the drums, paired with what sounds like a piccolo, I think? I have no clue what the woodwind sound on the bridge is, but I’m kinda obsessed with it. I even did some digging to try to find out what this instrument is, but apparently nobody on the internet cares about this but me. 

Overall, “bad idea right” flaunts what Rodrigo does best: deliver edgy pop-punk bangers geared towards girlys who might make questionable decisions but have good intentions (sometimes). I don’t know if this is an unpopular opinion, but I actually have found that this single is on heavier rotation than the first single from Guts, “Vampire.” Olivia is an artist who has not stopped delivering since her very first single. I am consistently impressed with her work as an artist and cannot wait to listen to the full album in September.