Back in 2007, Justice were the absolute coolest thing on the planet. Their debut record blew my mind. It was pure bad-ass. It was funky, edgy, house music, and it arrived just at the right time. Followed by a lackluster disco record, we then come to Woman, their third and even more confusing release than Audio, Video, Disco.
Yet again, the french-electronic duo make music that sounds way more corny than it does fun. Songs like “Pleasure” sound like they were almost made for a trippy, LSD themed kids show. It’s like they’re going for “Digital Love,” but come out more like an After the Fire b-side. The duo told Zane Lowe that they want their music to sound “like the opening of a boxing championship when the guy enters the stadium,” but I don’t know what kind of boxing they’re watching. Does Glossy Boxing exist?
Up until 2016, Nick Valensi, the guitarist for the Strokes, was the only member of the band not to have their own solo or side project.
This all changed with CRX, his very own band that brings to mind The Cars, Elvis Costello, and of course, The Strokes. Produced by Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age, it has a power-rock/metal kind of feel to it, but it’s all under a sheen of compression thick enough to mask anything from standing out anyway. Lead single “Broken Bones” is a decent track, but most of the songs sound like Strokes b-sides that you would’ve been glad never saw the Strokes headline applied to the cover.