Bearings

Emerging from Ottawa’s independent scene, the Canadian pop-punk outfit Bearings first earned notice through a string of well-received self-released EPs before inking a contract with Pure Noise Records and unveiling their opening full-length, Blue in the Dark, in 2018. Two years later they expanded their sonic palette on the expansive Hello, It's You, only to pare things back on their third album, The Best Part About Being Human, which surfaced in 2023.

Vocalist Doug Cousins, guitarist Ryan Culligan, bassist Collin Hanes, and drummer Connor Kington first crossed paths while enrolled in the same music industry arts program at Algonquin College in Ottawa. By 2014 the four had coalesced under the Bearings name, united by shared admiration for blink-182 and the Menzingers. Early in 2015 they issued their debut EP, Higher Ground, and followed it a year afterward with the three-track Home Is… EP. Having become a reliable live act, the group secured its initial label agreement with Pure Noise and delivered the third EP, Nothing Here Is Permanent, in 2017. Over the ensuing year they shared stages on major tours alongside Four Year Strong and Less Than Jake while continuing to prepare a debut album. That long-player finally arrived in October 2018 as Blue in the Dark; by weaving together the textures of their prior EPs, the record raised the band’s visibility and soon led to a collaboration with producer Courtney Ballard. In 2019 Mike McKerracher stepped in as the new drummer.

Issued in 2020, Hello, It's You presented a more amplified take on the group’s signature approach, trading in heavier beats, sharper hooks, and choruses built for large venues. Tracks such as “Sway” and the pop-tinged “Super Deluxe” circulated widely on streaming platforms, sustaining listener interest throughout the opening months of the worldwide pandemic until live performances could resume. Pure Noise subsequently put out a deluxe edition of Hello, It's You in 2022 while the band worked on fresh material in the studio. Choosing not to pursue further expansion, Bearings instead revived a more traditional approach, stripping away the synthesizers and elaborate production touches from their previous effort. The outcome was The Best Part About Being Human, a 2023 collection that returned to the crunchy, live-oriented pop-punk style the quartet had first cultivated.