Album Review: Justice - Audio, Video, Disco

(Originally Appears in AU Issue 77, October/November 2011)

Justice
Audio, Video, Disco
[Ed Banger/Because]

Justice were already veterans of the production and remix circuit before they dropped their debut album † in 2007, but the record’s success still took many by surprise. Blending earth-shattering synths, mauling beats and polished grooves, their critically-revered sinister-disco sound invaded the mainstream, with meaty singles like ‘Genesis’ and ‘D.A.N.C.E’ proving to be the tidal wave that washed away early noughties dance-punk for good. The French duo just sounded bigger than anything else on the radio.

Without compromising on scale, Justice have cut their pop album with Audio, Video, Disco. The production is slightly cleaner, there are more sing-able hooks and, at their best, the group achieve Purple Rain-levels of pop/funk creativity. In fact, at times the two DJs appear to be summoning the spirits of pop classics, funnelling them into the brawnier avatars provided by their huge production methods. For example, On’n’On’ all but pinches the synth breakdown from Stevie Wonder’s ‘Living For The City’. ‘Horsepower’ opens with the same droning thumps that introduced Michael Jackson’s ‘Beat It’, while the scratchy guitar riff of ‘Newlands’ is more than a touch ‘Whole Lotta Love’.

But there are some surprises and many highlights. ‘Brianvision’ is an unexpected electric guitar workout, while the still-great fist single ‘Civilisation’ fully captures the magnitude of Justice’s synthetic orchestration. Without quite matching the pallet-cleansing reckoning that was †, Audio, Video, Disco still succeeds as a pleasure-centre tickling pop record.

7/10

Key Tracks: ‘On’n’On’, ‘Civilisation’, ‘Ohio’

For Fans of: Daft Punk, Prince, Simian Mobile Disco