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Viking's Choice: Crying, 'Revive'

"I was listening to a lot of big stadium rock and AOR," guitarist Ryan Galloway (left) says of the new Crying album.
Adam Kolodny
/
Courtesy of the artist
"I was listening to a lot of big stadium rock and AOR," guitarist Ryan Galloway (left) says of the new Crying album.

Crying exists in the ridiculous. The band's first two EPs took bright-eyed pop-punk and Thin Lizzy hooks and amplified it with the 8-bit, in-the-red cuteness of chiptune music. It was easy to think Crying a fun piece of novelty, but upon a deeper listen, a remarkable understanding of melody and craftsmanship was put into something that might otherwise have gone viral for a week before being forgotten.

Beyond The Fleeting Gales is not only Crying's debut album, but also a sonic watershed, trading in a Gameboy for synths and ditching punk for pop. This is full-blown stadium rock, minus the teased hair, the laser show and the stadium — at least for now. Think Rush, REO Speedwagon and Van Halen, featuring the explosive skills of guitarist Ryan Galloway and drummer Nick Corbo, but reined in by the unassuming and soulful voice of Elaiza Santos (recently a guest on #WAXnEGGS). Crying's unique dynamic hasn't actually changed, just expanded with greater ambition, as heard in the massive "Revive."

"I remember bringing this song to Nick in the summer of 2014, and we demoed it out with only guitar and drums (no synths!)," Galloway writes NPR. "It was the first song I had written after the EPs, and I was listening to a lot of big stadium rock and AOR. In terms of guitar, the use of common tones and big open chords occur throughout the piece, which is most likely from my '80s Rush influence."

That '80s Rush sound high-kicks the intro, which is all ripped white jeans and crushed beer cans. But as a big as "Revive" is — crazy drum fills, bright and brassy synths, palm-muted picks and all — an underlying melancholy allows Santos to indulge her sentimentality about the past few years: "And though I try to revive it / Try to return to the start / Searching for us in the basement / Sifting for us in the car."

"This was one of the first songs we wrote on the album," Santos tells NPR. "It came to me at a time when seemingly every area of my life was shifting despite my expectations and thinking too fondly on memories without allowing room for change. It's dangerous to keep everything precious, but I'm too sentimental, so I do it anyway.

"'Revive' is a tribute to the early stages of my relationships, to this project and other special people in my life, but also a wake-up call for myself to keep up and look out for transformations instead of losses."

Beyond The Fleeting Gales comes out Oct. 14 on Run For Cover.

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