Archive for the ‘Two Hours Traffic’ Category
CMW Day 4 Rebekah Higgs, Young Galaxy, Two Hours Traffic, The Golden Dogs @ The Horseshoe
Saturday night at the ‘Shoe to see Two Hours Traffic and The Golden Dogs, Young Galaxy was a bonus. I had heard of Young Galaxy previously, they are another band on the ever impressive roster of Canadian music at Arts & Crafts but I wasn’t familiar with their music. Their sound is quite unique in that it marries a kind of gothic sensibility with the British New Wave electronic music of the 80s. It is as rooted in such bands as Duran Duran, Haircut 100 and Flock of Seagulls as they are in Depeche Mode. You have to give them credit for coming up with a sound that is both unique and somewhat familiar at the same time. You think you’ve heard it before but you can’t think where. Of all the bands I’ve heard this week, I really hope Young Galaxy gets the attention they deserve.
Their set was interesting, Catherine MacCandless’ voice has the haunting quality associated with Nancy Wilson of Heart. It made for an interesting dichotomy in that my eyes were telling me it was not Nancy Wilson but my ears where telling me a different story. The melodies are beautiful and MacCandless’ voice carried even over the conversations all around me. She sent shivers up my spine a few times. Stand out songs for me were “Swing Your Heartache” and a cover of The Stills “Destroyer”. Personally, I think Young Galaxy has the potential to become one of Canada’s biggest bands.
Swing Your Heartache by Young Galaxy
Rebekah Higgs started out the night with an ethereal voice which instantly brought comparisons to Leslie Feist. I think I also detected a little bit of Enya in there and maybe just a touch of Sia. Higgs voice can be very powerful and true even when she is full-throttle. Mostly her songs are a dreamy mix of keyboards and guitars with looping and lots of reverb. This gives the music a lush, large sound with all the production. Her sweet melodies were like honey on my ears after the last few nights of rock ‘n’ roll. The audience was appreciative and I was surprised to see how she seemed to hold them in her hands without any tricks. If you like Feist you are sure to like Higgs and to those who say, “Do we really need another Feist clone?”, I say “Why, yes, I think we do.”
Two Hours Traffic was the third act I saw last night. I had decided to reacquaint myself with them after a disastrous (at least for me) introduction two years ago on the same stage. Then they sounded like they needed a refresher course on how to tune their instruments now they sound polished and ready for the big time. The crowd obviously agreed since they swarmed the stage and the ‘Shoe managed to fit in as many people as it could uncomfortably hold. I don’t think anyone left disappointed.
Two Hours Traffic delivered a terrific set of poppy, danceable music that really did have people on their seats dancing. “Jezebel” is a retro-sounding Weezer-ish song that immediately had the effect of lifting your mood no matter how down you felt. They also played a few new tunes off their upcoming new album. “Territory” was the best of the ones they played. As with all Two Hours Traffic songs this was another very upbeat tune that dared you not to move your feet. “Backseat Sweetheart” was the song of the set, though. Very catchy melody with an unrelenting bass and drum beat. They are a great band to see if you are feeling a little down or you just want to go out for a fun evening with friends and dance the night away.
Backseat Sweetheart by Two Hours Traffic
The Golden Dogs, on the other hand, took the stage with a vengeance. This is a take no prisoners band. They took control of the crowd and the night and never let go. Their sound is reminiscent of the B-52’s with a little bit of Brian Wilson and a Totoish/Steely Dan vibe from time to time. This is feel good music delivered with a self-assurance that makes you pay attention. They never stopped, going from one song to the next with no introductions or breaks. The drummer is absolutely astounding, driving the songs and supporting the rhythm section while the guitars screamed. The crowd was again up dancing on their seats for the entire set. Great band, probably my second favourite of the one’s I’ve seen at CMW. My favourite? The Handsome Furs hands down.
Back 2 School/End of Summer Playlist
Summer has basically ended with me wasting it and not working all. My summer ended in July as I injured my knee and wasn’t really able to have fun for the last month. I’ll try… to go back to some concerts but standing around is still a bitch.
Filling in for Joe who needs a break before school starts, I’m holding onto the albums I review for tomorrow 
so enjoy this playlist. Most of them are recycled MP3s from other posts and rather short songs but it’s better then nothing right?
Constructive Summer by The Hold Steady – We’ve had a constructive summer for this blog didn’t we?
Stuck For The Summer by Two Hours Traffic – I was stuck at home for a good 5 weeks
It’s That Time Again by The Dodos
Brain Burner by No Age
Learnt My Lesson Well by Kaiser Chiefs
We’ll Never Sleep (God Knows We’ll Try) by Rilo Kiley
Insane Ft. Warrior Queen by The Bug
This Is Not A Test by She & Him
It Could Have Been A Brilliant Career by Belle and Sebastian -They’ll be saying that about me when I spend more time on this blog then on actual school
Holiday by Chaingang – hopefully you enjoyed your labor day!
Two Hours Traffic – Little Jabs
With the recent announcement of the Polaris Music Prize shortlist, I decided to review the other albums I have yet to review. The first band to become victim to my heinous crimes against the English language is Two Hours Traffic’s Little Jab.Two Hours Traffic is an indie rock band out of Charlottletown, PEI the only band I know of now that is from that little island. They released Little Jabs on July 24th of 2007 and got great reviews when they actually received some press.
Two Hours Traffic have a brand of original powerpop/pop and if you tend to follow my tendencies, I usually have a bias for independent pop bands. I’m really trying to be much more critical in that aspect but some bands make it impossible. I think Two Hours Traffic are in that latter category.
I actually had no idea what to expect, even if pop seems to be my thing, it doesn’t work sometime and luckily I was given their album upon their shortlisting nomination. Thanks KillBeat Music.
It starts off great with Nighthawk which feels like an epic 5-minute song with all the strange editions. You could argue that its straightforward pop but all of the random elements allow it to rise to the occasion.
The next track, Advances displays almost the same formula but it is just incredibly catchy, with the chorus “no advances, just romances, if I’m smart I’ll take my chances on you” embedded in my head.
Stuck for Summer has my favorite intro on the album. It’s almost hard not to dance around to. In this song, Two Hours Traffic take a jab at themselves by singing “I will let you sing my song if you can relate, let you get the lyrics wrongs, they’re not that great”. This track is just addicting with their riff and also another catchy little number. They seem to have these moments where they aren’t necessarily structured but they do have quite a bit of repetitive lyrics.
Heroes of the Sidewalk show off great vocals but with those catchy lyrics once again. The next track “Jezebel” is of the same reverb, simplicity in music but with outstanding vocals and lyrics by Liam Corcoran.
My favorite song on the album is Backseat Sweetheart, probably because it has that mark of powerpop the raging keyboard intro. I think its about a one-night stand that you don’t want to let go of but I could be wrong. It’s the most catchy song on the album.
I’m giving up the song by song review at this point. It’s getting tiresome to say this track is great over and over. The whole album is excellent. Pop at its best.
Out of the 7 of 10 albums on the short list that I’ve had a chance to listen to, this one is the best! Here are my rankings:
1. Two Hours Traffic – Little Jabs
2. Black Mountain – Into The Future
3. Holy Fuck – LP
4. Caribou – Andorra
5. The Weakerthans – Reunion Tour
6. Plants and Animals – Parc Avenue
7. Stars – In Our Bedroom After The War
This album is a great summer album, so I was glad to review it when July has gone underway.
Rating: 4.75 out of 5.
A great album, I missed out on and I’m glad I found it now rather then not at all.
Read Herohill’s review that was done last year. I guess music reviews are timeless?
