Culture

Prospect recommends: Justice

February 11, 2012
The Parisian duo performs alongside a giant neon crucifix
The Parisian duo performs alongside a giant neon crucifix

 



Justice On tour nationwide from 9th February

The French have a talent for surreal, vaguely comedic dance music, from the rubbery riffs of masked disco robots Daft Punk to the electronica outfit Air, who’ve just made an album about the 1902 silent film Le Voyage dans la Lune. Parisian duo Justice have been peddling their rock-influenced house music since 2003 and their latest album Audio, Video, Disco is their most eccentric yet, a witty juxtaposition of giant club beats and 1980s guitar anthems which they’ve described as “a progressive rock record being played by guys that don’t know how to play.” Bass lines are constructed from heavy metal riffs sampled, chopped up and reconstructed with a dance producer’s regularity while the guitar breaks are so bold and bright they sound like Queen played by wind-up toys or Lego men.

In live performance you’ll hear more than you see, with the pair bent over mixing desks, twiddling MacBook Pros and dwarfed by 18 Marshall amplifiers. The atmosphere at a Justice show has been compared to a Brixton club night crossed with an Evangelical church gathering: they always perform alongside their personal emblem, a giant neon crucifix.