The last year has been an incredible one for Two Hours Traffic. After releasing their Joel Plaskett produced second full length album, “Little Jabs” in July 2007, the band has found themselves the proud makers of one of the most critically acclaimed albums of the last year. Pulling no punches, Little Jabs packs a wallop with eleven captivating tracks that blur the line between folk rock and powerful pop. Their unparalleled pop sensibilities are unabashedly catchy and sincere and Two Hours Traffic is deservedly at the fore of the Canadian Maritime pop revival.
“Little Jabs” has appeared on numerous top ten lists and has notched the band two PEI Music Awards, a CBC Radio 3 Bucky Award for Best Road Trip Song, three East Coast Music Award nominations and the 2007 East Coast Music Award for Best Pop Album. The album stayed on the top 20 national college chart for 10 weeks, and it hit # 1 on the CBC R3-30 Chart in September staying in the top five for four straight weeks. Two Hours Traffic released 3 videos, performed on national television, and had their songs appear on television shows such as Gossip Girl, Smallville, The Ghost Whisperer and The OC. With no end in sight, they have played over 100 shows in the last twelve months, crossing Canada from coast to coast twice.
Two Hours Traffic began in 2003 when former kindergarten colleagues Liam Corcoran and Alec O’Hanley recruited fellow University of PEI chemistry students Andrew MacDonald and Derek Ellis. After the better part of a year, the group released an EP entitled The April Storm (Independent). This record caught the ear of acclaimed Halifax guitar hero Joel Plaskett, who immediately offered to produce the group’s first full-length album. When not breaking Erlenmeyer flasks, the group managed to pen and record an anthemic eponymous full length album.
Recorded while the band was still in their teens, their second album Two Hours Traffic (Independent) recalls the eccentricity of The Cars and the immediacy of Big Star. People took to the songs without hesitation: Limelight fueled some hot tub drama on The OC, Better Sorry Than Safe edged out indie-rock mainstays Broken Social Scene and The Constantines on CBC Radio 3's 2005 year-end list, and the album was nominated for Best Rock Recording at the 2006 East Coast Music Awards. While their debut full length album was a magnet for critical accolades, their peers began to take notice as well; Two Hours Traffic toured Canada extensively, playing shows with the likes of Sloan, Wintersleep, The Joel Plaskett Emergency and The Golden Dogs.
The 2006 release of their second EP, Isolator (Independent), signified the band’s arrival as accomplished songwriters. More critical acclaim followed and the disc received a 2007 ECMA nomination for Best Alternative Album. Since then, Two Hours Traffic has gladly left behind the ivory towers of higher education for less dignified pursuits.
Nighthawks Video
Jezebel Video
Stuck For The Summer Video
Release: Little Jabs
Date: July 24, 2007
Label: Bumstead
