#331 (of 365) "Victim Kin Seek Suit" - The World is a Beautiful Place and I am No Longer Afraid to Die

I moved to Hoboken, NJ, in the summer of 2013, after a rough two year patch of almost non-stop intense, blinding toe pain that I attempted to fix with surgery that made things worse--or at least made the pain worse--extending the rough patch by a year and convincing me to make a major change in my life and move an hour north of the central Jersey area I'd called home since I went to Rutgers 20+ years earlier, so I could be closer to Manhattan, closer to concerts and nightlife and "gay people" (generally) and focus on my writing. Well at least those were the goals. And before I sold my house and moved into a gorgeous but expensive (at the time--now I would kill to pay that little) two bedroom apartment on Jackson and 2nd in Hoboken, a town I knew little about, other than it was the place I often parked my car when I took the PATH into Manhattan, and I had a friend who lived there. I had no idea, none at all, that this place I chose for its proximity to a bigger city, would be a place I fell in love with. A place I could leave my apartment at any hour of any day and find people out and about, in coffee shops, bars, restaurants, more bars, more restaurants, parks and cafes and walking the waterfront and taking the PATH to the city or the light rail to the mall or bike riding into Weehawkin or just walking down 2nd street after a fun night in the city or heading out to meet my new writer friends at the New School. It was all incredible. And invigorating. And I try not to think that it took me 40 years to find my place in the world--vibrant city life instead of the suburbs--because at least I did find my place and I've loved Hudson County ever since.

What does that have to do with this band? Well, the soundtrack to my first summer in Hoboken was the recently released Whenever, If Ever, by this 8-piece emo band with the long, weird name, and anytime I hear anything from them, I am reminded of all of the excitement and joy I had just leaving my apartment after work and walking--walking, not driving! which is so fucking freeing--with my headphones on (way before airPods) listening to The World is a Beautiful Place and I Am No Longer Afraid to Die.

"Victim Kin Seek Suit (2016 version)" - The World Is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die // Formlessness (2010/2016)