Two Hours Traffic

Two Hours Traffic
Two Hours Traffic performing at the 2007 NXNE festival
Background information
Origin	Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada
Genres	Indie rock Power pop
Years active	2000–2013
Labels	MapleMusic Bumstead
Associated acts	The Danks, Joel Plaskett, The North Lakes, Alvvays
Website	twohourstraffic.com
Past members	Liam Corcoran Andrew MacDonald Derek Ellis Nathan Gill Alec O'Hanley

Two Hours Traffic was a Canadian indie rock band, based in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. They are named after a line in the prologue to Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Although often described as the band that Halifax guitarist Joel Plaskett took "under his wing", they have increasingly become known as purveyors of original, well-crafted power pop songs. Critics draw comparisons to 1970s power pop band Big Star, but the band members tend to cite Nick Lowe as a prime influence. The band's achievements include a nomination for the Polaris Music Prize in 2008 for the album Little Jabs. In 2013, the band performed on their final tour, disbanding afterward.

Founded by Liam Corcoran (lead vocals and guitar), and Alec O'Hanley (guitar, keyboards and vocals), the group added bassist Andrew MacDonald and drummer Derek Ellis to its roster in 2002 after meeting while attending the University of Prince Edward Island. While all were age 19, the quartet recorded a demo titled The April Storm. After handing a copy of the EP to Canadian musician Joel Plaskett at one of his Charlottetown performances, a collaborative relationship formed. In 2005 the band released their full-length album simply titled Two Hours Traffic, which saw them work directly with Plaskett, who produced the album and added guitar tracks to two songs (3 and 10). Plaskett's sister, Anna Plaskett, also played French horn on two of the album's tracks (7 and 12).

The group has performed and toured with various East Coast artists such as Plaskett himself, In-Flight Safety, and Wintersleep. The self-titled album was recognized with the group's first nomination at the 2006 East Coast Music Awards, for Rock Recording of the Year. Their videos "Better Sorry than Safe", "Stuck for the Summer" and "Jezebel" have been in rotation on MuchMusic. The group released a six-song EP entitled Isolator on September 26, 2006. Isolator was also produced by Joel Plaskett. It was nominated for Alternative Recording of the Year at the 2007 East Coast Music Awards.