I find it interesting that ex-Butterglory frontman Matt Suggs chose to name his new record after a lyric from a Roy Orbison song. Roy Orbison was there at the birth of the genre we call rock, penning compelling ballads that married country twang with pop swagger. Perhaps even more importantly, Orbison delivered these songs with his distinctly operatic voice, making each line come to life.

Golden Days Before They End showcases Matt Suggs' best attempt to be Roy Orbison. While Suggs' slightly lisped, vibrato-less voice beats no semblance to Orbison's haunting baritone, Golden Days is Suggs' shot at making a record filled with charming country-tinged pop songs. And while the result is indeed charming, it's also relatively dull.

"Skeleton Blues in b Flat Minor" kicks off Golden Days with a jumpy piano figure which instantly brings to mind piano bashers like Ben Folds and Elton John. But Suggs isn't a pianist. Instead, he contributes vocals, guitar, lap steel, mandolin, and bells to the album. The piano tracks on the record, as well as the organ, accordion, and additional guitar tracks, are all attributed to fellow ex-Butterglory member Ranjit Arab. Arab's nimble fingers provide Golden Days Before They End with a cohesiveness and full-band sound rarely found on solo debuts.

Unfortunately, the well-executed instrumentation of "Skeleton Blues" doesn't hide the fact that the song itself isn't particularly engaging. The chord structure is unremarkable, and Suggs' unenthusiastic delivery does nothing to enhance the song. "Soon the Moon Will Glow" is by far the album's best moment-- the song manages to attain a consistent groove with sustained piano and inventive percussion. But this momentary lapse into eloquent songwriting is quickly shattered by "Eloise," a mediocre piano-driven number that bears a suspicious resemblance to "Skeleton Blues."

From that point on-- despite several hours of listening and many attempts at intensive analysis-- Golden Days is all a blur. The album makes a quick turn from Elton John to Johnny Cash. Pianos give way to acoustic guitar and lap steel, and full drum sets are reduced to tambourines and hand percussion. This trend swerves from the acoustic guitar and organ ballad "Where's Your Patience, Dear?" to the Automatic for the People-style "The Rambler vs. The Culture/Devils Dance" to the anti- climactic closer, "Kisses."

But while the tracks on Golden Days are far from riveting, they rarely offend. Suggs' talent as a songwriter rests in the fact that he can fill an album with songs that could easily illicit a "that's nice" reaction from your grandmother. Unfortunately, Suggs' off-key ramblings simply don't mesh well with this kind of rootsy rock music. It's a disappointment, considering some of his great work with Butterglory.

When you get right down to it, Golden Days Before They End is boring. It's by no means a bad release, but you'd expect better from a guy who wrote such pop gems as "Come On" and "Carmen's Cross." Considering Suggs' history, I'm sure he'd have no trouble finding another label if Merge were to bid him an amicable farewell. Plus, that would leave the Chapel Hill imprint with a vacancy. A vacancy that could only be rightfully filled by another solo artist named Matt.

-Matt LeMay