Aaron Lee Tasjan puts Todd Snider’s spirit into underdog album

Aaron Lee Tasjan’s new album, Get Over It, Underdog, is built around a figure with less shine than the outlaw: the person still trying to be heard from the margins.

In a Rolling Stone review published July 17, writer Marissa R. Moss says the LP draws heavily on Tasjan’s bond with the late Todd Snider, whom she describes as both a mentor and a champion of underdogs. Tasjan had produced Snider’s final album, High, Lonesome, and Then Some, and later went to him for guidance while working through his own creative and career doubts.

According to Moss, Tasjan hit a rough patch after releasing 2024’s Stellar Evolution, despite that album earning a Grammy nomination. The review says the wider climate for independent musicians felt bleak to him, even with that recognition in hand.

A mentor in the mix

Snider’s role, Moss reports, was not just emotional background. He encouraged Tasjan to keep going and became a sounding board as the new record took shape across 11 tracks.

The review describes Get Over It, Underdog as a set that blends Tasjan’s character-driven writing with bright, shifting arrangements. Moss points to traces of glam rock, folk-inflected sing-talk delivery and a steady sympathy for people who do not usually get the spotlight.

Tasjan is also praised for bringing some of his live-show instincts into the record. Moss compares that skill to Snider’s own way of making the space around a song matter, not just the song itself.

The opener, “Science Fiction,” is described by Rolling Stone as a trip through dissatisfaction and a world people have helped make difficult for themselves. Moss notes that the strings give the track a lift, even as the lyrics keep a darker edge.

Songs with bite and bruises

Elsewhere, the review says Tasjan lets upbeat music and heavy words rub against each other. Moss cites “Lost & Alone” as a track with a bright, Heartbreakers-like chorus carrying a much sadder emotional charge.

“Ballad of an East Canton Lowlife” sends Tasjan back toward home, according to the review, following a neglected antihero whose life is easier to judge than to understand.

Moss also highlights “Lydia’s Boots,” written after a Lydia Loveless concert. The track is described as both a salute to the pull of live performance and an expression of longing to slip into someone else’s life for a while.

Snider died before Tasjan finished the album, and Rolling Stone says that absence hangs over the closing piano ballad, “The Dream Comes True.” Moss frames the finale as Tasjan making peace with the cost of chasing a creative life, while recognizing the value of friends who help carry the weight.

This story draws on original reporting from Rolling Stone.