Polaris: Two Hours Traffic

09/24/08 5:02pm

by Trevor Morelli (CHARTattack)

For the last few months, college kids across the country have been using Two Hours Traffic's Little Jabs as their summer soundtrack. More than a year after its release, the Charlottetown band's second LP is still going strong and is even starting to pick up steam in the U.S.

Two Hours Traffic continue to prove Little Jabs deserves a spot on this year's Polaris Music Prize short list by ignoring hype and winning people over the old-fashioned way: on the road. ChartAttack recently caught up with guitarist Alec O'Hanley and singer Liam Corcoran as they were driving through upstate New York in order to make it back to Toronto in time for Friday's gig at Lee's Palace.

ChartAttack: How did the show go last night?
Alec O'Hanley: It went really well. It was actually the first time for us playing in New York City, and it went better than expected.

You've mentioned in previous interviews that the title Little Jabs refers to the point in a relationship where you can be more abrupt with your partner. Which song on the album exemplifies this the most?
AOH: Probably the song "Whenever We Finish." The title is supposed to have double meaning, in that the majority of these songs were meant to be these little blasts of pop music that would hopefully stick in people's brains.

Are you guys at the point where you can give these jabs to each other?
AOH: Yeah, we're pretty thick-skinned these days. We had to work Andy [Macdonald, bass] in initially, but we continuously poke and prod each other on a near constant basis. We're kinda like a big marriage quartet now.

The band are performing at the Polaris Music Prize gala this year. What are you going to play, and are you guys nervous about it?
AOH: I don't think we're nervous, really. It's gonna be cool to play alongside all these bands and artists we have so much reverence and respect for. I think we're gonna play "Nighthawks" and "Whenever We Finish." I hear you get a free bottle of vodka or something like that.

But it might be a good idea to save it for after the show.
AOH: Yeah, that's the trick. It should be cool, though. I think my mom and Liam's mom might come. Our manager was trying to be all nice and asked them to come without asking us first. We like our moms, so I have no comment on that.

Who or what is the song "Jezebel" about?
Liam Corcoran: The name was just kinda picked because of the way it sounds and how it sounds with the music. It's kinda weird because I was naive to the actual meaning of the word, being a whore or whatever. We were trying to intentionally use a lot of cliches and make it sound fresh. There's nothing too deep. It was just chosen because of the way it sounds with the music.

So what you're saying is it's not about Anne Of Green Gables?
AOH: Nah, I don't think any of us have read it. I've never read it, but I think I've read some of [Lucy Maud Montgomery's] stuff. Just not that one.

"Heroes Of The Sidewalk" has some pretty racy lyrics, especially in the chorus ("You're my idea of a lady/hold onto my bootstraps, baby/and drag me around by your pony tail"). Is that tune about a dominatrix?
LC: The way I think of that lyric is more in a cartoon-y sort of way. It could've been us just trying to make the song more interesting. It's not meant to be sinister at all, but maybe we just went too far with the metaphor, and that's why some people might see it in that way.

Some people would argue that songs like "Heatseeker" and "Whenever We Finish" give the record a strong sense of Canadian power rock, similar to styles popularized by bands like Sloan and Big Sugar. Did you consciously try to make a record that fit in with that "Canadian" rock sound?
AOH: It's tough to really nail down a "Canadian" sound. "Heatseeker" has some Neil Young influence in there, and we certainly wouldn't mind that comparison. I guess it fits in the way that we don't throw in a lot of electronic nuances. If we played anything else, it wouldn't feel as authentic. Sloan's "Everything You've Done Wrong" was one of the first videos I remember that really hit me early. Bands like Sloan and The Tragically Hip certainly hit us early on, so we take those comparisons as a compliment.

The Polaris Music Prize comes with $20,000. Any ideas of what you'd do with the money?
AOH: Well, that's a good question. We do owe some money to some creditors.

Don't most bands?
AOH: Yeah. I don't know what we'd do. We might do the honourable thing and donate some of it. We might treat ourselves to a new axe or two. Who knows? We didn't wreck a van like Patrick Watson did last year, so we don't have that to pay for. I'd say I'd buy my mom a house, but with only $20,000, it would be a pretty crappy house.

Is twenty grand enough to buy everyone in Prince Edward Island a beer?
AOH: No, not even close. It might be enough to buy some people in Charlottetown a beer.