The Best Part About Being Human

Centering the most elemental, essential qualities of their musicianship without falling into the kid-in-a-candy-store trappings that bog down so many artists, Bearings’ third album for Pure Noise, THE BEST PART ABOUT BEING HUMAN, is the sort of record that begs to be played loudly, the sounds of sunny SoCal filtered through the lens of the Great White North. It’s rock music, not rocket science, as the quintet rip through 10 tracks of dyed-in-the-wool charisma and ebullient melodicism. From the dual vocal-laden first single “Scenery” (with an Easter egg bass tribute to the blink-182 classic “Mutt”), grooving “Slip” and lyrical sass of “Don’t Wanna Forget About It” through the new-wave jitter of “Howie, You’re A Freak,” Oasis-esque swagger of “Live Forever,” and muscular “Heal,” the songwriting on THE BEST PART ABOUT BEING HUMAN is the most tightly honed of Bearings’ near-decade career, instantly nostalgic for sweaty summer festivals and finger-pointed singalongs while serving as a clear indication of where the pop-punk genre is headed.