The year is 1967. Earlier in the night, the Muse responsible for inspiring rock music the world over began hitting a bottle of Jack like never before in a small back country saloon with the group of country musicians slated to offer the watering hole's evening entertainment. At bar time, suffering from impaired vision and whistling a Louvin Brothers tune, the Muse decided to complete the task for which she had left Mt. Olympus in the first place. Several months later, Bob Dylan emerged from the studio with his latest work--Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.
This never happened. But that's not important. What is important is that Matt Suggs is convinced that the year is in fact 1967 and that he is this alternate reality's Bob Dylan. The piece of work resulting from this delusional state is an excellent, heartfelt American roots reinterpretation of the feelings pedaled on that landmark of pop music that is now nearly a quarter of a century old.
That is not to say that Golden Days Before They End is simply a stylistic alteration of a familiar work adhering to the Hollywood formula of placing a previously existing product in a new skin. Instead, Suggs' album is a present-day reinterpretation of the great pop-rock album that his obvious touchstone--the Beatles--created.
Suggs has not been sitting in a hole for 25 years. As a result, there are definite traces of artists who have come after the period that the predominant portion of Golden Days Before They End refers. Nick Cave is the most obvious later-day inspiration. "Soon the Moon Will Glow" and "Kisses" both exhibit the stark and brooding poetic charm and dark piano riffs for which Cave is renowned.
Although the Muse in Matt Suggs' head may be drunk, she still knows a thing or two about good rock music. As a result, Golden Days Before They End is a tasty bit of uniquely American-spun rambling pop-rock.
--Brian Gettler