Ever since they began emerging out of the Connecticut house show circuit at the start of the decade, The World is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die have been breathing originality into the once-maligned emo genre. Gratuitous in name and number (they’ve had anywhere from seven to nine members), the band have also distinguished themselves with a continuum of unique sounds, from the squiggly synth leads of their early days to the many-voiced, multi-part epics that have defined their last two albums. But the biggest reason that TWIABP’s considered one of the most indispensable bands of the so-called “emo revival” is their message of inclusiveness, equality, and righteousness.
In the past, that message has manifested itself in songs about being unafraid to seek help for depression, or about a true story of vigilante justice wrought upon a serial killer of women in Mexico. Today, TWIABP’s conscience might have its strongest showing yet in their video for new song “Marine Tigers.”
Named after a book written by singer David Bello’s father about his experience emigrating from Puerto Rico to New York in the ‘40s, the song is a direct comment on the xenophobia that’s always run rampant in this country, but seems to have been emboldened by Mr. Build That Wall. Bello’s lyrics reference the sort of forced deportation that ICE agents across the country are probably carrying out at this very moment, and the video itself presents a powerful visual metaphor to match. In it, we follow a man who has a third arm growing out of his back, which causes ostracization, shame, and frustration. Sure, it’s weird to everyone who lays eyes on him, but as we see from a yellowing photo in his apartment, the physical trait is in his bloodline, a norm in whatever homeland he originally came from.
“Marine Tigers” is the second track TWIABP have shared from their upcoming third album, Always Foreign, due out September 29th. Check out lead single “Dillon and Her Son,” and preorder the album from Epitaph.
