Justice Strikes Out With New Album

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7WMss-Fbvw&feature=player_embedded#!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7WMss-Fbvw&feature=player_embedded#!
Audio, Video, Disco. | Album cover courtsey of Justice

“Oh how the mighty have fallen.”

That’s what tastemaker Nathan Jackson of ChemicalJump.com said when the title track and second single of Justice‘s latest offering, Audio, Video, Disco, hit the web last month. Now that the much anticipated follow up to the duo’s 2007 debut, Cross, is released, it seems Jackon’s pessimistic prediction, unfortunately, rings true to the entire album.

I really wanted to like this album. I wanted to be reminded of what made me fall in love with electronic music as a 16-year-old high school kid. Discovering Justice opened a door into a whole new world of French electro that sounded like nothing I’d heard before, long before dubstep made regular rounds on the airwaves. For so many friends and fans, including myself, Justice was the band that kick-started an obsession with electronic music that’s been coasting for the past four years in anticipation for the duo’s next release. Audio is not the fuel Justice lovers were craving.

The sound of the album is a complete departure from Cross. However, instead of following a natural evolutionary arc, it seems Justice has taken some steps back. Something felt off ever since the band dropped “Civilization” as the album’s first single in March. The same electro masters behind smashers like “We Are Your Friends” and “D.A.N.C.E.” left for four years to craft their follow up, and this is what they come up with? “Audio, Video, Disco” came soon after, then a leak of “Helix.” Three strikes.

“Canon” is the stand-out track on the album, especially for those wondering where to find Justice’s legendary and defining French electro roots. “New Lands” is a good compromise between the “old” and “new” Justice, a mashup of disco and the new arena-rock-influenced thing they’re trying to go for on Audio.

What confuses me, though, is that although the band was quite obviously inspired by rock beats and big guitars, they did not record on actual instruments and have no intention of performing live. Xavier de Rosnay told Pitchfork that “although the record sounds a bit band-y, it’s mainly electronic– we wanna keep an electronic aesthetic because we like the way it sounds and it’s more practical for us. We are not good enough instrumentalists, and the fact that we don’t perform all of this live keeps it on the good side.”

So, basically de Rosnay admits they’re not skilled enough to uphold the demands of such a “rock” sound, however, they still went and recorded an electro-rock album anyway. Alert me if I’m missing something, but I don’t see the logic. Even the band acknowledges that their experience is unfitting for the type of album they just released.

I love seeing bands find success in trying new things, but I think Justice made a huge mistake in forgetting that all their fans are electro lovers and not rockers. I applaud them for making the music that makes them happy as artists, but they too easily forget that they also must please their audience in order to make a living selling records. Not to mention that since their 2007 debut, many newcomers have hit the scene – The Bloody Beetroots and The Glitch Mob, for example – who have perfected the art of performing live electronic music.

I know I’m not the only one who wishes Justice would have released Cross, Part 2, or something of the like, and left their mediocre attempts at live electronic music on the cutting room floor. Why fix something that isn’t broken? Even still, I will always love the great, legendary Justice. And I tried so hard to give Audio a chance, but with each track, the album just fell through again and again.

Find out what Justice has to say about Audio, Video, Disco in their interview with Art of Noise.

About Nee-Sa Lossing

Nee-Sa Lossing is a broadcast journalism major at BU. She's a music writer for The Quad and only wears black and white.

View all posts by Nee-Sa Lossing →

2 Comments on “Justice Strikes Out With New Album”

  1. Damn, i find this interview offensive. Lighten up a bit, will ya?
    This album is insanely fun and packs some great grooves. I mean, seriously, if you can’t enjoy Horsepower and the triple-punch of the last three tracks, I don’t think you ever understood what Justice was about in the first place. I can’t blame these guys for not wanting to churn out more mindless dance tracks and make actual songs. They succeeded. the album is a total success.

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