Two decades after its release, What To Do When You Are Dead is still in the conversation. Armor For Sleep’s sophomore album wasn’t just another mid-2000s emo record—it was a full-on concept piece, tying existential weight to melody in a way that stuck. Now, to mark its 20th anniversary, Equal Vision Records is rolling out a limited vinyl and cassette reissue, while the band is gearing up to play the album front-to-back on a 25-date U.S. tour with Boys Night Out and Hellogoodbye.
The vinyl re-press is available in three different colorways, each limited to 250 copies, while the smoky tint cassette is capped at 100. It’s a short-run collector’s release, sold exclusively through the Equal Vision store.
The timing lines up with Armor For Sleep’s renewed momentum. The band, led by Ben Jorgensen, recently put out “What A Beautiful World,” following their 2022 album The Rain Museum. “Unlike some of the nostalgia-fueled emo reunions, The Rain Museum feels familiar without being rehashed or outdated,” SPIN noted, while Brooklyn Vegan described it as “spacious, atmospheric, and cinematic.”
Jorgensen has been open about the themes running through the band’s newer material. “‘What A Beautiful World’ is a song about examining toxic relationships we often find ourselves in and how hard it can be to free ourselves from situations that we know, ultimately, are unhealthy for us,” he said. “At the same time, this song is about looking back at those relationships and still appreciating the good parts.”
For longtime fans, the What To Do When You Are Dead tour offers a chance to see the album performed in full—something the band has only done on rare occasions. The album’s concept, following a protagonist navigating the afterlife, gave Armor For Sleep a distinct place in the post-hardcore and emo landscape of the 2000s. It pushed past the personal and into something more expansive, a narrative approach that helped it sell over 400,000 copies worldwide and put the band on the road with acts like Fall Out Boy, Linkin Park, and My Chemical Romance.
Then, after their 2007 album Smile for Them, Armor For Sleep faded out. The Rain Museum, released 15 years later, was originally meant to be a direct follow-up to What To Do When You Are Dead but was shelved due to outside industry pressure. Jorgensen eventually revived the project during the pandemic, drawing from the original sci-fi concept—a post-apocalyptic world where people visit a museum to remember the past—while folding in personal grief and loss from his own life.
Armor For Sleep will be making the following appearances in March and April with Boys Night Out and Hellogoodbye. Dates below.
MARCH
06 — Boston, MA — Paradise Rock Club *
07 — Philadelphia, PA – TLA *
08 — Brooklyn, NY — Warsaw *
09 — Pittsburgh, PA — Preserving *
11 — Cleveland, OH — The Roxy *
12 — Columbus, OH — The Bluestone *
13 — Chicago, IL — House of Blues *
14 — Detroit, MI — St. Andrew’s Hall *
16 — Minneapolis, MN — Varsity Theater *
17 — Des Moines, IA — Wooly’s *
19 — Denver, CO — Summit *
20 — Salt Lake City, UT — The Complex *
22 — Seattle, WA — The Crocodile *
23 — Portland, OR — Hawthorne Theater *
25 — Roseville, CA — Goldfield Trading Post *
26 — Anaheim, CA — House of Blues *
27 — Mesa, AZ — Crescent Ballroom *
29 — Dallas, TX — Echo *
30 — San Antonio, TX — Vibes Event Center *
APRIL
01 — Atlanta, CA — The Masquerade *
02 — Orlando, FL — Beacham *
03 — Greensboro, NC — Hangar 1819 *
04 — Baltimore, MD — Baltimore Soundstage *
05 — Montclair, NJ — The Wellmont Theater *
06 — Albany, NY — Empire Live *
* — w/ Boys Night Out, Hellogoodbye
