By Erik Casarez
It took me 20 years to realize that dance music can be punk. Growing up in the early aughts, the majority of the songs on my winamp playlists consisted of barre chords, blast beats, and/or gang vocals. My music taste was a spectrum of alternative rock and entry level punk and pop punk. A wannabe edgelord, I rarely explored anything beyond this type of music. Then one night in 2007, under the influence of Sparks energy drinks and Parliaments, a friend introduced me to the music video for “D.A.N.C.E.” by Justice. The video captures the French electronica duo walking towards the camera, heads out of shot, in black and white as these fluorescent animations dance on their shirts. It was a visual representation of the pandora’s box of music enlightenment that opened up in my brain. This song incorporated genres and influences of artists I never truly appreciated while the music video embodied the aesthetic and attitude of my favorite types of songs. Nearly 20 years later, I experienced that feeling all over again when Justice played The Moody Center on March 6.
Along with opener Marie Davidson, the duo filled the arena with non-stop sounds of anxiety, reflection, and disco grandeur that only feels more epic hearing it live. Every set tells a story and its so open-ended that there is no wrong way to embrace it. And as if the auditory cheesecake wasn’t enough, the stage production just took this show to a whole new level. To call it just a light show doesn’t feel accurate enough. It’s an experience. The combination of sounds and visuals make you feel like you are immersed in a 4-dimensional stereogram and Justice are the ones squinting their eyes to see you.
Justice has been able to maintain their longevity by putting on great shows that enhance multiple senses, but also by just being really cool. There’s just no other way to say it. There is an edge and overwhelming sense of cool that just explodes from their presence alone. Even when they’re playing songs that are tributes to early Michael Jackson, there is a feeling of danger. Not the type of danger you should be afraid of, but rather the type of danger that makes you feel alive again. The late aughts era which has now been begrudgingly framed as “indie sleaze” is having a little bit of a comeback in recent years but Justice never vacated this aesthetic. If anything, they’ve helped maintain and evolve it and with shows like this, they could probably do this for another 20 years.
