Forget the fact that Justice's 2007 dance album † grinded harder than most metal, and that this follow-up rock record is more cleanly produced than anything else in 2011. How about the mere movement of it, the lack of numbing repetition, the shifting tonal structures ... and the fact it's played on actual guitars? The French duo's breakthrough single "D.A.N.C.E." was a loving tribute to Michael Jackson. On Audio, Video, Disco, they nail John Bonham's stomp in "Canon" and split the difference between Black Sabbath and Brian Eno in "Civilization." Sucked-straw guitars filter every which way, synths clang just as hard, and the words don't mean a damn thing. Best of all, Justice abjure prog's most frustrating time-signature predilections by drilling their wide-ranging pleasures to a tempered and danceable 4/4. — Dan Weiss
