Album Review- †

Justice
†
9/10

Is this really a revolution? There’s no space. There’s no air. Everything is packed from end to end into a claustrophobic mess. It’s loud and filthy sounding. There are no slow builds. It hits hard, and then, later in the song, hits harder. The synths aren’t subtle, they scream. The beats don’t vary much from the steady boom-tap combination. Every track is a raging party. Will Justice liberate the idle feet of children everywhere? Is this really a revolution? Et justice pour tous?

Forgive me for the drastic exaggerations, but it’s been a long time since I’ve been genuinely excited about an electronic album. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a sucker for minimalist, maximalist, micro, and whatever else you can preface before –house. As many times as I’ve played Gui Borrato’s Chromophobia and The Field’s From Here We Go Sublime, and as much I love both those albums, I’ve never had a reason to get physically excited. Most of these records seem to exists to be intellectualized more than anything. But † is like a visceral punch in the face. The message here: dance or be damned. No one wants to be damned, and so we can’t help but dance.

And if I may be so daring as to inspire a collective gasp amongst the electronic elite, I like † better than anything Daft Punk has ever put out, past or present. If that sounds blasphemous to you, you can rest assured that this is only one man’s opinion. It may seem even more ridiculous since Daft Punk are more like the blueprint to Justice’s model, but I can’t help but feel like Justice actually deliver harder, better, faster, and stronger than any of their contemporaries. But lets be honest, this is dance rock folks, nothing more or less. It’s quite possible that any existential musings on how Justice will change the face of electronic music or music in general are baseless.

That being said, if we were to evaluate † on sheer listenability, it still comes out on top. From the opening timpani of “Genesis,” you know exactly what to expect; super compress sci-fi sweetness. “Let There Be Light” lets loose some harsh, search-and-destroy synths and their signature fuzzy funk-bass with an array of hi-hats slamming into each other at full-speed. There’s a moment of cool-down around the 3:30 mark before radio noise introduces “D.A.N.C.E.”, which has to be your favorite song….ever.

There isn’t one weak track throughout the entire album. Besides the less than desirable raps from label mate Uffie on “The Party”, it still gets repeat love. Plus, you gotta love a couple French dudes that sample Three-Six Mafia. “DVNO” is the real party track anyway using the duo’s signature formula to maximum effect. One of the most insane highlights of the album, “Stress” uses hyper-tense strings for an effective exercise in tension and release. “Waters Of Nazareth,” a repeat from the EP of the same name, is the nastiest thing here. High on distortion and heavy on the tom drum and hi-hats, it would make a killing on the dancefloor.

So yes, it’s a noisy, reckless, sweaty mess, and it’s fantastic. It’s the best time you can have when you’re alone in your car. It’s the most fun you’re going to have without drinking. Oh yeah, it will probably sound great in a club too. Forget what we told you before, this really is the best dance party ever.

Download >>DVNO

Download >>D.A.N.C.E

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