Review: Orville Peck, Show Pony

Though the Old West doesn’t exist anymore, it remains an evergreen source of country music imagery. It’s less of a place, and more the nostalgic idea of one: whatever emotions the thought of a sweeping ranch vista evoke in you, that’s it.

In his songs, Orville Peck slyly subverts the genre’s frontier iconography into an invitation, free of its frequently hetero-macho POV. The gay masked troubadour offers a more progressive version of the western mythos that can stir something in you, whoever you are. And his Show Pony EP—delayed from its original June release date out of respect and support for the Black Lives Matter movement—showcases a growing mastery of both genre and songcraft. Across its six songs, Peck uses rustic imagery in ways that feel vital rather than cliche.

The slow tremolo of opener “Summertime” stirs a rich melancholy air, with Peck’s golden voice drifting like a cloud over the prairie sky. “Ain’t No Glory In The West” strips down to just an acoustic strum, Peck’s mournful admittance that “the things you live by were once just a guess.”

“Drive Me, Crazy” details a longing romance between two long-haul truck drivers, while “Kids” traces the ongoing ups and downs of two parallel lives with a nimble guitar riff.

Show Pony’s big showpieces both arrive at the end: its last two songs each summon a legend. Shania Twain is enlisted for a rollicking country-pop duet of “Legends Never Die”. And “Fancy”, a simmering Bobbie Gentry/Reba McEntire cover, dismantling the gender norms in its rags-to-riches story.

For someone aligning himself with country legends, with Show Pony, Peck proves he’s on that path—increasingly at home on the range, even as he opens up the idea of who the range is for.

Show Pony was released August 14, 2020 on Columbia Records.
Listen to it here.

Official video for "Legends Never Die" by Orville Peck & Shania Twain.