Show Pony (EP)＜Colored Vinyl＞

As good as Orville Pecks 2019 debut album, Pony, was, no one was expecting it would push him into something close to mainstream success, probably not even Peck himself. Between the queer subtext that was very close to the surface on many of the tunes and the fact it evoked a sort of country music that hadnt been a presence on C&W radio in decades, who would have guessed that he would break out of the alt-country underground in record time? 2020s Show Pony, Pecks follow-up to his exceptional debut, finds him not only signed to a major label but duetting with a bona fide superstar, Shania Twain, on Legends Never Die, something that surely seemed like a wild daydream when Pony arrived 17 months earlier. A six-song EP, Show Pony isnt as immediately impressive as the debut album, in part because it lacks the size and heft to feel like a similarly important statement. Peck wasnt afraid to go for the grand vocal gesture on Pony, and hes confident enough here that hes willing to go bigger and broader. While he falls short of histrionic, it sometimes sounds like hes already ready for his Las Vegas showcase, which isnt encouraging for his lonesome country soul. His cover of Bobbie Gentrys Fancy is a bold move that turns the song into something like a JT LeRoy short story; however, his decision to sing most of it essentially a cappella allows him to get lost in spots, which undercuts its effectiveness. Despite that, Show Pony thoroughly confirms Peck is a major talent, and the slightly glossier production works in his favor, giving him the grand Technicolor backdrops his vocals demand on Summertime and the subtler but artful arrangements that serve Kids and No Glory in the West so well. If the sexual metaphors of his truck drivers saga Drive Me, Crazy are impossible to miss, his fearless fusion of passion, romance, and unapologetic eros turns it into a near masterpiece. When Pony came out, it seemed an open question if country music was ready for someone like Orville Peck. Show Pony is his declaration that if hes offered the spotlight, hell claim it as the place he deserves to be, and on the basis of the talent and audacity shown here, only a narrow-minded fool would bet against him. ~ Mark Deming