Justice: Live And Learn / Review

In a few days from now Justice will be playing their last show ever and I have absolutely no doubt that they will be able to leave us on a high note after close to five years of activity. Justice always was and I guess always will be a band that was much talked about and caused some controversy. From the bold, in your face "love hardcore or leave it" attitude and raw, stripped down hardcore of their early days to the far more post hardcore styled and emotionally diverse approach of their more recent material, there was always a ton of people that dug what Justice was doing and at least as many that were eager to tear down anything they did. I always thought that was a good thing. If you can provoke reactions that extreme and be the subject of so many heated debates then you must be doing something right. You are making some kind of impact and that's what counts. I'm sure Justice feels the same way, as they never wanted to be the band that everyone was kinda lukewarm about.

With all that said, I know that this final 5 song 12" will have its lovers and haters. When put next to every other Justice release, "Live And Learn" definitely has the most in common with their previous album "Escapades", yet it's still quite different as well. It definitely took me some time to get used to what Justice came up with this time around. Just as was the case with "Escapades" I needed to spin the record a bunch of times in a row in order to really grasp what was going on. One thing I noticed quickly though was that it is obvious that "Live And Learn" is Justice's last record ever, because they really went all out with this one. If there ever was a filter for their wild ideas, they threw it out the door when they started writing these songs. So that might explain the jungle sounds in "A Quiet Pain", the occasional tambourine or how the record ends with the sound of rain. Most of all though, you can tell that at this point in their lives, Justice is confident enough to do whatever the hell they want to and that's exactly how this record sounds.

"Lived And Learned" is the first song on this EP and it immediately hits hard with its chugging, groovy main riff and catchy chorus. As weird as it may sound, the way Filip sings on this song reminds me of a song off Sub Zero's "Happiness Without Peace" album. Lyrically this song does a good job at describing the search for who we really are and what we really want from life, the uncertainty and soul searching most of us go through... Especially in our mid 20's, ha. "When I look at my fellow men, they all got a master plan". That's right. Next up is "A Quiet Pain", which also was the MP3 for this EP so I guess most of you have heard it. It's an unexpectedly hard song that seems to be boiling over with anger and frustration. Actually, the first part is fairly upbeat and has some awesome DC-ish additional vocals, the song then breaks down and builds up to that second part. It might be a little obvious to point out the "Path Of Perfection" vibe this song has, but I'll do it anyway cause I don't want anyone out there to think I didn't pick up on that.













"Meaningless" might be my favourite song on this record. Ever since I heard a first demo version of this song (with Stief singing!) many moons ago I've had it's melody stuck in my head. Musically and lyrically it seems to softly ebb and flow inbetween a soothing, sad sort of acceptance and a haunting desperation (the chorus consisting only of the word "alone" can kinda chill your bones). Great fuckin' song, wish I wrote it. On to "What Have We Become?", which features some of Stief's trademark Bad Brains inspired stop and go type bridges but most of all I gotta say that the Quicksand vibe is super heavy on this one. The song's lead riff has Walter S. written all over it, while Supertouch is never far either. This song could've easily been on "Escapades", which is not a bad thing at all in my book (see my Top 15 Records of 2007 for reference).

It's easy to get fooled into thinking you've reached the end of "Down And Under" before the weird (dare I say jazzy?) ending kicks in. Not only is it the last song on here, I think it also is my least favourite one. It sounds a little strained and a little too Ted Nugent at times for me. Still definitely a decent song though so don't take my word for it and listen for yourself.

Honestly, I am glad I have taken the time to really sink my teeth into this record and feel lucky to have been in the possession of the finished recordings a few weeks before the actual release. It's a grower and definitely a record Justice can be proud of. I feel like musically their inspiration has gone further than the usual bands from the post hardcore realm and that is exactly what enabled them to make a better post hardcore album, if that makes sense? It does in my head so you figure it out. Filip's vocals have always been one of the main reasons for people to like or dislike Justice and I'm sure that won't change now, but to these ears his vocals here sound more confident than on "Escapades". They still have that same melody and "singy" kind of character, but they're a little rougher, more like they sound live and I'm digging that.

To those of you that are still in doubt, come see Justice one last time this saturday. If not, at least keep an eye out for whatever these dudes will come up with next. Rhythm To The Madness, Powered Records and beyond. On a sidenote, I will be obtaining an Ipod this weekend (what's up Shawn!) which is pretty crazy. This record is bound to go into heavy rotation on that thing.

www.poweredrecords.com
www.myspace.com/justicehc