by Bradley Torreano

French alternative rockers Saez do the impossible on Jours Etranges: they create a distinct and powerful voice out of the post-grunge rock sound. But unlike Creed and Bush and their ilk, they change all the rules around and refuse to rehash ideas that were old to begin with. For example, they take their emotive singer and some noisy guitar and pair it with a funky beat and dramatic keyboards, resulting in the grand and intense "Soleil 2000." They take their thickest sludge anthems and end them with minute-long piano codas. They fill the songs with beeps, noises, and Edge-like guitar parts without one hint of useless irony or angst-driven cynicism. Taking the sounds of the '90s and updating them for the next decade, Saez made an excellent album that deserves more credit. This should be a mandatory listen for every faux grunge band who littered the radio while this band toiled in obscurity due to the notion that language is too big of a wall for American music fans to climb.