Dylan Rau started Bear Hands to spite a romantic rival. Joining forces with fellow Wesleyan university alumnus Ted Feldman and iconoclast punk veterans Val Loper and TJ Orscher, the band started to stomp live. Both other bands and people in the crowd were stomped regularly and definitively.

Touring became a new way of life for Bear Hands after the 2007 release of their Golden EP. The band opened for MGMT, Vampire Weekend, The XX, Les Savy Fav and spent time on roads all over North America and Europe with now-dear friends Passion Pit, We Were Promised Jetpacks, Obits, Ambulance LTD, Hockey, Manic Street Preachers, Mayer Hawthorne & The County, and Awolnation.

In November 2010, following the success of their single \\\"What A Drag\\\" (Too Pure UK // Cantora US), and after a crawling recording process plagued by mental illness, intraband resentment, and a generally pervasive sense of indecision, Bear Hands released their debut LP, Burning Bush Supper Club on Cantora Records.