The title of Catchiest Band in Canada has never really been wrested from the clutches of Vancouver’s Odds, but a group from the other end of the country appears to be making a serious grab for it. Charlottetown’s Two Hours Traffic has an awesome knack for conjuring melodious pop gems like “Stuck for the Summer”, the first single off its second full-length CD, Little Jabs. Listen to that anthemic ditty’s equally infectious follow-up, “Heroes of the Sidewalk”, and it becomes clear that these guys breezed right through Pure Pop 101.

“We just kinda listened to the stuff any offspring of baby boomers would listen to,” explains the band’s guitarist Alec O’Hanley over the phone. “You know, Fleetwood Mac and all that catchy stuff—the Beach Boys, certainly. And Neil Young is dear to our hearts. You just take what you grabbed in your formative years and hopefully it comes out later on, when you’re 23.”

The journey that led to the band’s current mastery of the pop hook has been a lengthy one, as O’Hanley and lead vocalist Liam Corcoran have shared musical experiences since kindergarten. As tykes, they were videotaped at a Christmas concert singing “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus”. “There’s only 30,000 people in Charlottetown,” reports O’Hanley, “so if you’re involved in music at any age, you’re gonna cross paths with the same people again and again. I took piano from his aunt, and he was in the same class. It was fortunate how it worked out.”

Another Atlantic artist who can take some responsibility for the super-catchy vibe of Little Jabs is its producer, Halifax rocker Joel Plaskett, who also helmed the quartet’s eponymous full-length debut of 2005. “He’s got a keen pop sense,” O’Hanley notes, “and he knows what goes into making a good, efficient pop song. He also brings a lot of nice, pretty guitars to the studio, so that’s a bonus.”

Two Hours Traffic is part of the Collagen Rock Records collective, which includes O’Hanley’s other group, the Danks; Mardeen; and Smothered in Hugs, whom he has heard described as “Joy Division with rainbows coming out of their asses”. “Charlottetown’s got a lotta great bands at the moment,” claims O’Hanley. “You’re gonna be hearing more and more about them over the next two years. It’s a bit of an underdog town, just due to its population.”

O’Hanley is chatting with the Straight just minutes after Two Hours Traffic—which includes bassist Andrew MacDonald and drummer Derek Ellis—have rolled into Sudbury for a gig at fave the Town House. “After the show they put you up in the basement, underneath the bar,” he explains. “There’s beds down there, and they just throw ya down there with a buncha beer, so it’s a pretty good time.”

Besides becoming adept at the ancient art of wangling free beer and a crash pad, Two Hours Traffic has managed to earn some impressive accolades with its tuneful sound. Last year, it scored a CBC Radio 3 Bucky Award when “Backseat Sweetheart”, off Little Jabs, was chosen as the best road-trip song, and just last month it took home the prestigious East Coast Music Award for pop recording of the year.

The catchiness is catching on.

Two Hours Traffic plays the Railway Club on Saturday (March 8).