REVIEW: ottawa-based pop-punk band bearings release sophomore album, "hello, it's you"

Bearings have been steadily killing and changing the game of the pop punk music scene since their first EP “Home Is…” to their first full length release, 2018's Blue in the Dark. For a debut album, this shattered all boundaries of what pop punk was stagnating in. It saw Bearings shoot into the stratosphere and left fans waiting for dear life for more. Whilst I’m still a sucker for 2017's “Nothing Here is Permanent” and will refuse to skip "Letters Home" whenever it comes on, I have to say that seeing where they’re heading now is a wonderful thing to watch.

Hello, It’s You is, at its core, a pop punk record that doesn’t shy away from the pop. It’s laced with early 90s and R&B influences that set the band apart from everyone else in the scene. In the lead up to the release, they put out a total of five singles that saw them hone this elevated sound.

We’re taken through scenes of blossoming and lost love throughout the album, seeing lead vocalist Dougie Cousins wearing his heart on his sleeve for us all to stand in solidarity with. Each song, when woven together, represent the highs and lows of being in love. Pop punk anthems like "Love Me Like You Did" and "Sway" display the frustrations, slower ballads like "Lovely Lovely" and "Dreams" reflect those classic mushy emotions, and tunes like "Better Yesterday" and "I Feel It All" elicit excitement at the prospect of new love.

Bearings have been able to experiment with this album, both sonically and lyrically, and though there isn’t one genre they settle on, it is still unequivocally them. "Dreams" has been the biggest curveball; somehow, they’ve captured a dream-like state and turned it into a song. All the while giving us some ambient, Soundcloud rap disguised with pop punk vocals.

Though personally, my favourite song has to be "Transient Colours," which closes the album. It reminds me of Transit and Boston Manor, with the pre-chorus chants echoing "My Sharona" by the Knack. Lyrically, they’re at their best in this song as they contemplate existentially: ‘I see you in the stars and wonder / Simple things in transient colours,’ and ‘One day I’ll be gone / Ever getting lost in the stars / Void of any thought.’

For Hello, It’s You being their Sophomore release, it speaks to the talent Bearings hold and just how much more they have to give. Bearings can be found on Twitter and Instagram.