Premiere: Rue Snider shakes off detractors in fan-assisted live video, ‘Shrug’ -

A perfect piece of pop ear candy, Taylor Swift’s “Shake It Off” is very much rooted in an essential universal truth. “Haters gonna hate,” she bites her thumb to her detractors, a flamboyant and gooey hook line. Her playfulness, wisely assisted with big band horns, is not without an emotional lacing. “I… wanted it to be a song that could help someone get through something really terrible,” she said. Such groundwork is equally as imposing with New York City’s indie-rock god Rue Snider, as he grapples with his own share of critics, as well as his mental state and those who shower him with platitudes. “Shrug (Live),” premiering today, comes unhinged – permitting Snider to plant his feet and dig his heels further into the stage.

“Some will call you foolish / Others will call you dumb / People will say it’s impossible / You’re too old, too poor, too young,” his sings. He confronts the words hurled in his direction as much as the demons squealing and gnashing their teeth inside of him. The chorus completely boils over, a cathartic release, really: “People will always get in your way / Thinking they’re showing you love / Just smile and give those fuckers all a shrug.”

In signature Snider fashion, the live iteration gives him a moment to conjure up deeper, more gutting grit in his vocal, a tone for days and days. His focus in lyricism and music composition crashes together as a perfect storm; his work marries the romance of bygone classic indie-rock and the very natural urgency present in his bones. “Shrug (Live)” is the latest addition to his songbook that only proves his superhero abilities.

On the song, he writes to B-Sides & Badlands over email, “I live by a core principle that other people’s voices and opinions don’t matter when it comes to my decisions about my life. This is true when it comes to negative opinions, and it’s true when it comes to positive encouragement,” he says. “It’s difficult to actively live by that principle, and it’s taken me lots of time to make strides. I talk to so many people who value other people’s opinions about their life over their own and who get derailed when someone refers to their dreams and goals as foolish, dumb or impossible.”

The accompanying visual features various fan-submitted clips that serve as a connective tissue to the overarching story. It’s a charming relief to the otherwise inescapable emotional punches, a mix of arsenic and lace. Meanwhile, Snider is seen doing what he does best: commanding an NYC stage. His ferocious bite is aptly captured by Amanda Brown.

Snider continues into the song and video’s two-ton weight, “Permitting other people to dictate our value and then impact our decision making compounds the struggle of trying to achieve while fighting depression, anxiety, institutional prejudice, income inequality and all the other real obstacles many of us wrestle with daily,” he offers. “I wrote this song to remind myself to shrug off the voices that think they know better than I do about what’s best for me and to encourage anyone else caught up in a cycle of seeking approval to do the same.”

“Shrug” (Live) samples Snider’s first live EP called Pete’s Candy Store Pt. 1, out everywhere December 6.

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