If you’ve been keeping up with Crying over the past few months as they worked on new material, you’d know that something different was on the way. With their new one-off “Patriot,” they begin the gradual slide away from their signature chiptune indie rock stylings and into ’80s rock-inspired bombast. On Twitter, the band cited Rush as a major influence, and that comes through strong here alongside the band’s own frantic sensibility. While the track is just as catchy as anything else Crying has put out, it sometimes get a little buried under itself, but when it hits, it hits hard. Take the needling riff that gets an all-too-brief spotlight towards the end of the track, or the way Elaiza Santos’ vocals are pin-cushioned by the chorus. It’s an exciting progression for the band, and I’m pumped to see where this takes them next. Listen below.

You can download the track for pay-what-you-want on their Bandcamp.