Tom Diaz, the original lead singer of The World is a Beautiful Place and I Am No Longer Afraid to Die, passed away on Nov. 3rd. Diaz was with the band from 2009-2013 and was an instrumental part of their first major label album, 2013’s “Whenever, If Ever.”

Diaz’s passing is a bittersweet opportunity to shine a light on “Whenever, If Ever,” one of the most underrated albums of the early 2010’s East Coast indie rock scene. What was interesting about this particular scene was that instead of coming from New York like almost every other American rock trend in the East, the bands came from New Jersey, like The World is a Beautiful Place and I Am No Longer Afraid To Die, The Front Bottoms and Pinegrove. These bands injected vitality into an indie scene far too obsessed with trying to recreate the first two Strokes albums by bringing in the raw vulnerability and musical experimentation of midwest emo bands like American Football.

Though floating under the radar of their more successful counterparts, like the aforementioned Front Bottoms or Philadelphia’s Modern Baseball, there’s an argument to be made that “Whenever, If Ever” one of the best indie rock records of the 21st century. What sets the band apart from fellow Jersey indie bands is their willingness to explore all different sorts of sounds in their music. That’s evident in the opening track, “Blank #9,” where some American Football inspired guitar noodling is broken up by an unexpected cello.

They use this musical maximalism to fantastic effect on the album’s explosive climax, “Low Light Assembly,” where a CASIO keyboard joins the already busy guitars and drums on the chorus. This normally would be too busy, but the atmosphere of the song makes it all work, inviting the listener into a chaotic and loving world. That love shines through in the vulnerability of Tom Diaz’s lyrics, best displayed on the album’s most famous track, “Heartbeat in The Brain.” The lyrics are simple, but incredibly evocative.

When Diaz died, the lyric that people posted the most on social media was “If your arms turn into smoke, I will have nothing left to hold”. The way that he references death in an almost juvenile fashion is indicative of his larger style, which is playful and childlike, but is anchored by the power of his voice.

He makes this album something truly special, and his passing is a loss for music as a whole, not just indie and emo. “Whenever, If Ever” is an underappreciated classic, but is a bittersweet reminder of what could have been if Diaz hadn’t passed away.