Olivia Rodrigo has been accused of ripping off Brooklyn four-piece indie rock act Pom Pom Squad.

A viral TikTok has compared the music and promotional rollout of Olivia Rodrigo’s debut record, Sour, to the work of Pom Pom Squad. In a series of tweets, musician Honey Cutt the similarities presented in the since-deleted TikTok video.

“Had a tiktok going viral that had photos that show how Olivia rodrigos team have been very ~inspired~ by Pom Pom Squads music/album art/Insta posts/style/vibe etc and have copied pps frequently thru olivias campaign. It got reported and taken down. So Ima post the pics here,” she wrote.

The comparisons hone in on the visual references to cake, cheerleading and the overarching gauzy, dreamy aesthetic.

Okay, so obviously there are aesthetic parallels — that there’s no denying. Though accusing Rodrigo and her team of plagiarism is misguided.

Rodrigo collaborated with multidisciplinary artist (and Rookie Mag graduate) Petra Collins on the record’s promotional material. For all those that worshipped at the chapel of Tavi Gevinson as a teenager, we’re well acquainted with this aesthetic. It’s literally scorched inside our brains. I can’t tell you how many times I pathologically dissected Petra’s The Female Gaze and School Spirit photo series.

Both artists feel like they’re crystallising a very unique online zoomer experience. A paean to the teenage girls that spent their time OBSESSIVELY watching and rewatching Sofia Coppola’s The Virgin Suicides. The girls that lapped up Lorde’s Tumblr letters like they were gospel. The girls that begged and pleaded with their parents to take them to American Apparel. It’s beautiful and resonates so profoundly because it’s SO identifiable.

Both Olivia Rodrigo and Pom Pom Squad rule. Rookie Mag for fucking ever!

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