Just who is Justice? Aren’t they that group from YouTube, featured in a clip of Kanye West pulling an O.D.B. at the European VMA’s? Rolling up on stage in protest that he didn’t win “Best Video”, Kanye totally eclipsed Justice’s acceptance speech. But that wasn’t exactly them – it was actually video director Jeremie Rozan and label art director So_me, accepting the award for the group. And, if we are going to get technical, the award was actually not even for Justice’s own song, but a remix they did of Simian’s “We Are Your Friends”. So who is Justice again now? 

    Justice is a French electro-dance duo made up of Gaspard Auge and Xavier de Rosnay. They cut their teeth doing remixes for N.E.R.D., Britney Spears, and obviously, Simian, and increased their buzz with their “Waters Of Nazareth” single last year. Now, ready for some irony? They are signed to Ed Banger Records, an indie label run by Pedro Winter, who manages Daft Punk (who Kanye just sampled and featured in the video for “Stronger”). The label is also home to Chromeo, a group made up of P-Thugg and Dave-One – the latter who is older brother to Kanye’s DJ, A-Trak. Overheard at the Annual Macklovitch Holiday Party in French accent: “Eh, it looks like they invited that asshole Kanye West….”.  

    Despite the seven degrees of separation between Kanye and Justice, the group is doing their thing, and probably will end up being sampled by West when he sees the video for “We Are Your Friends” two years from now. In the meantime, the group are enjoying the fruits of their labor with their latest single, “D.A.N.C.E.”, which is headlining their new LP, Cross.

    Perhaps the best way to describe Justice is like a dirtier Daft Punk. Makes sense, since the two groups are part of the same close knit family anyway. “D.A.N.C.E.” is already heating up underground club scenes, thanks to it’s infectious, albeit inaudible, children’s choir hook, which grabs you when it first drops in, but seems to trail off as the song drags along. Thankfully, most of Justice’s songs do not include vocals, as they seem to work better as instrumentalists. Case in point is “The Party”, a funky little track that boldy employs a piece of Three 6 Mafia flyness, and unfortunately the forced, struggled vocals of Uffie, an 18-year little girl from Florida that believes she can rap. “DVNO” also fares a little bit better, with its distorted new wavey, post-punk vocals, but doesn’t match anything on Discovery.  

    But enough with the Daft Punk comparisons, it’s better to let Justice’s beats speak for themselves.  The sinister production of “Genesis” opens the album on the good foot, sounding like a futuristic racing video game soundtrack, not going overboard with the “house” or “dance” music vibes. The groovy “New Jack” is a dope little ass-shaker, where the duo get loose on the keyboard and drum machine, manipulating a chopped up little funk sample to death. Also fresh are “Phantom 1″ and “Phantom 2″, a two-part instrumental opus built around a four-bar electro sample; not to mention “Valentine”, which could easily be mistaken for a moody RJD2 track. 

    While the buzz on this group is insane, it’s safe to say that while the album does deliver, it isn’t a classic debut by any stretch of the imagination. Listening to Cross does, however, suggest a bright future for the fresh French duo, perhaps even opportunity to bum rush Kanye off stage one day.