MUSIC

O2 Academy, Bristol (Thur 9 Feb)

As Justice step into the divine lights of the 02 Academy stage from behind a blanket of mystic smoke, one can’t help but compare the experience to having stumbled upon a meeting of some post-apocalyptic cult with decks as religious artefacts. Of course, these holy connotations are hardly a revolutionary observation: double act Gaspard Augé and Xavier de Rosnay stylise their name with a cross, named their debut album ‘Cross’ and carry a giant one round with them wherever they go. But such talk really is apt when describing the atmosphere at this week’s NME Awards support gig, where everyone has given their mind, body and soul (but especially their body) to Justice. And it’s no wonder they worship here with high-voltage Jesus-juice like this on offer.

Said smoothie is the output of a production that runs and sounds like a machine and, of course, comes complete with showboating lights, sounds and effects akin to what you’d see lying on your back at a planetarium.

‘Civilisation’ manifests from an opening sequence of whirring gears, coming clangs and lasers firing up. When that cross finally flicks on and the crowd goes into a frenzy, the words “power on” might as well boom through the place in a HAL-type soundbite. From then on, Justice are a device in full working order. Not a single bit of screaming synth or ballistic bass flits away without riling something up, and every single second lands hard.

When the cycle ends, appropriately, with a downtempo ‘We Are Your Friends’, it’s a replication of something shutting off. There’s still life there, but it’s a controlled decline, like the final seconds before “It is now safe to turn off your computer”. That’s not to say it resonates any less than the rest of the gig, but there’s no doubt in anyone’s mind that this is the finale.

Justice are a sentient beast, though, not some mindless automaton blending together opposing musical flavours to create an inedible mess. Not a single sound – be it keyboard solo, guitar rift, sci-fi blip or Jay-Z – is a misstep. Their output is a tumble through a record store that picks up nuances of each genre like a snowball to form something bigger, more powerful by the time it smacks you. Even a rolling organ is somehow able to keep all transfixed and Justice’s edge towards a more restrained rock noise, which saw their second album ‘Audio, Visual, Disco’ painted as either a bitter disappointment or a refined slow-burner, has no problems wowing in live action.

But perhaps this squabbling over the LP is to blame for the set’s major niggling flaw, namely that there does seem to be a reliance on the big crowd-pleasers. The likes of ‘D.A.N.C.E.’ are stretched out and presented as buttresses, while the more controversial album tracks fill in around, as though the pair are afraid to let them linger long enough to cause upset. Still it’s a forgivable example of human apprehension from an act that otherwise processes like a charm.

Quite simply, here lies a sound so bold, brazen and bravely eclectic that even the most stubborn of non-believers have the potential to be converted, if there’s any justice. (Daniel Sperling)

Copyright Daniel Sperling 2012; pic copyright Laura Palmer www.laurapalmerportfolio.com