Justice 

                                                 Audio, Video, Disco 

                                                           6.5/10

In the past four years, I often wondered how the French house duo, Justice, would follow up their revved up debut album, †. How do they come up with new material after the wide spread fame and the commercial success of the spectacular jam “D.A.N.C.E.”? What direction would they go in? Would their new record be more of the same or go for a different sound?  My questions were slowly answered during the summer when Justice members Gaspard Auge and Xavier de Rosnay released their lead single from their second LP titled, Audio, Video, Disco. “Civilization,” was in no way shape or form close to “D.A.N.C.E.” or anything else on †, and it was clear that the band would suffer from the devastating sophomore slump.

But it turns out, “Civilization” is one of the better tracks on Audio. It has a strong hook and is of epic proportions. And this “epicness” is tried out on all 11 songs, however Justice misses the mark almost every time. Not to say this is anything new since Justice’s sound was so grand and vast on their first LP, but the end result totally worked out - combining French house, nu-disco and metal the booming and thick record was powerful, hard but still playful. But Justice diverged a little on their sound, focusing more on rock - stadium and classic rock to be specific. Almost every song you can find an over-done guitar solo that whale on and on. Take the Queen rip-off “Parade,” which is the clearest example of what Justice is trying to achieve; that classic stomp-and-clap sound from the legendary band’s sports anthem, “We Will Rock You” is parodied and used under wild guitars, synths and even flutes. Although the track isn’t terrible it is pretty annoying how blatant the thievery is, which lower’ the song’s value for me. 

“On’n’on” is a groovy tune and is the most similar thing to† on Audio. Again, flutes are used but the the hook is immediate and fun. “Newlands” is another shining moment as its retro, 80s feel is full of fast guitars, organs and soft vocals by Auge and de Rosnay. The final two tracks, “Helix” and “Audio, Video, Disco” are also worth mentioning. The former song feels alive with chopped vocals, guitars and organ. The latter and second single, flows nicely with its delicate piano riffs, drum machines, and of course, guitar.

The other tracks fail to capture what Justice set out to do. There is a good song somewhere in the ballad “Ohio,” and opener “Horsepower,” but it feels like the ideas weren’t fully developed, and the tracks become flimsy and frustrating. However, “Canon” and “Brainvision” lack any appeal and fall extremely short Justice’s past work. Too much guitar work, lack of melodies and catchy hooks damage the record, bringing it down several notches.     

Audio, Video, Disco ends up being a disappointment. There isn’t really a track that stands out or shines strong enough to be the next great indie single. Nothing makes me me want to come back for more and I’m positive the album will get very few listens from me in the future. Instead, what we get are 11 tracks that range from decent to pointless, boring bullshit. However, there are some good ideas here but the execution of the influences and inspiration are way too literal and embarrassing. The record is a misstep and hopefully in the next four years Justice will figure out where they need to go next.