Two Hours Traffic

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More About

• Two Hours Traffic
• Fountains of Wayne
• Mood Disorders
• Mental Health

With the long deep freeze of winter about to set in, the timing couldn't be better for Two Hours Traffic to bring their sunny and buoyant melodies to the Cities for the first time and help stave off any incipient seasonal affective disorder. The quartet of twentysomethings hails from Prince Edward Island, a surprisingly sleepy and frigid home base for a band defined by a warm and lively power-pop sound. Over the course of three albums they've gradually refined a winning formula that balances the adenoidal angst and power-chorded crunch of early Fountains of Wayne with overt nods to slick new wave masters like the Cars and the occasional pinch of Californian canyon-rock strumming. Their latest effort, Territory, finds the group still rife with instant-gratification hooks, but features a more varied tone and richer production value than its no-frills forebears. While widely acclaimed in their native Canada, the band remain under-the-radar stateside for now, perhaps because a blogosphere prone to look north for icy artiness and dour sonic drama is unable to wrap its head around a Canadian act whose tunes could provide the perfect soundtrack to a Fourth of July barbecue. 18+. (Photo by Scott Munn)
Tue., Nov. 9, 8 p.m., 2010