Two Hours Traffic - Foolish Blood - Review!

Foolish Blood is the fourth full length album for Charlestown’s Two Hour’s Traffic. This album was produced by Darryl Neudorf (The Sadies, The New Pornographers) rather than long-time producer Joel Plaskett. Also, this is also the first album with their new lineup. Original guitar player Alec O’Hanley has left the band allowing Andrew MacDonald to switch from bass to guitar and newcomer Nathan Gill taking over the bass. The remaining members stayed the same with Derek Ellis on Drums and Liam Corcoran on lead vocals and guitar.

 

Foolish Blood got my foot tapping right out the gate. The opening track Magic has a catchy steady drum beat, with a sound so massive that it’s as if it’s being played through a huge sound system in a stadium. This steady beat and heavy sound reminded me of the single Unkind from Sloan in 2011. With this steady beat and some catchy lyrics, I was singing along before I was even through my first listen. The foot tapping did not stop there, leading directly into the same style beat into their song Audrey. Audrey was released last year on their 7” single along with the next track Amour Than Amis so it may be familiar to some.  A very strong trio to start off this album and they never let off the pace throughout. Andrew really had a lot to bring on the guitar; he has some great solo’s throughout. I particularly like the guitar in I don’t want 2 want U, giving it the feel of a classic 50’s pop rock song. Remember on Back to the Future when Marty was playing guitar just before Johnny B. Goode, this is the classic 50’s sound it reminds me of (yes, I compared this album to the styles of Marty McFly, and that’s a compliment in my books).With all this great rhythm and guitar, let’s not forget Liam’s strong vocals. The effects on Liam’s voice give it a really unique pop sound (what is it? a chorus effect?). He sings so clearly and the mix is so clear that I can forgive them for the lack of a lyric insert.

 

 

 

The packaging of this album is nothing special but at the same time it’s not really lacking, just not going above and beyond. There were no inserts but a nice inner sleeve with all the credentials. There is none of that unnecessary shrink wrap, instead they give us the poly sleeve which I always prefer. A big bonus is that they included a digital download card.

 

Overall this is a great catchy pop rock album. This is a great record for those nice sunny days in the spring. My only complaint is that it was over too quickly. I want more!