MATT CHEETHAM
Arts Writer

Hot off the heels of their new album Territory, Two Hours Traffic were here in Saskatoon as part of their Western Canadian tour. The band comes from Charlottetown, P.E.I., and over the last eight years they have been building their experience and experimenting with their sound.

Two Hours Traffic took the stage last Friday night as the headliner of one of CFCR’s many FM-Phasis shows at Amigos.

The band followed the crazy insanity brought by Spiral Beach and in contrast gave a much more reserved performance that showcased the band’s talent and experience. This is not to say that the band didn’t put on great a show; one would only have to look at the crowd to see a connection was forged that evening. This connection was electric as the indie rock and pop sparked enthusiasm in the audience, which clearly continued throughout the entire set.

The band was in a full force rock harmony as they played new songs from Territory and old fan favourites such as “Jezebel” from the previous album Little Jabs. Songs such as “Noisemaker” and “Drop Alcohol” seemed to resonate with the crowd as the moody lyrics presented with the pop style seemed like an unlikely fit at first but came together like a good musical cocktail.

Territory is a change of pace from some of the previous stuff.

“The word dark has been thrown around,” recalled bass player Andy McDonald. “Little Jabs was a naively sweet kind of record and we wanted to explore some different lyrical avenues.”

Territory, on the other hand, tackles some heavier material such as alcohol misuse and grey areas around religion.

“I don’t think it’s that much of a departure. As we grow older and change, the music we listened to was a little bit different, such as Spoon, The National and Magnetic Fields.”

The band is very excited about its six week long tour and exposing the country to the new CD, and then hopefully taking it international.

“We’d like to take it out of Canada if we can. Europe and the States. We had a bit of interest with Little Jabs but nothing really developed, so hopefully this time around,” said McDonald.

Although they hope to branch out into Europe and the U.S., they have no problem sticking it out around home.

“We love playing around Canada and we’ll keep doing it.”

After the tour ends, which finishes in Charlottetown, the band-mates plan to rest for a bit but are always writing new music and they love meeting new bands and playing with them, checking out their sound and what they offer.

In the future the band wants to continue to make music that is fun to listen to and they care that it reaches people.

If you weren’t a fan of Two Hours Traffic when you arrived at Amigos, you definitely were when you left. They captured fans’ hearts and hopefully their wallets at the end of the night with their merchandise, including posters, stickers and their new CD.

Two Hours Traffic came and went with a bang and Saskatoon is now waiting for their return.