CD Review -
No Show Ponies "Blueprint"
No Show Ponies
"Blueprint"
Through all 20-something years of growing up in Camp Hill,
brothers Ben and Jeff Brown have finally combined forces
with fellow brothers, Jason and Jordan Shover. Although
they've been friends for quite some time, the No Show
Ponies have yet to celebrate their first anniversary
together as an original band.
Few bands in Central Pennsylvania successfully represent
the concoction of American and British rock, but the No
Show Ponies are a zealous infrequency. After gaining
the experience from their acoustic self-titled debut album,
the Brown brothers paired up with the Shovers to assemble
Working Things Through, their initial 5-song EP.
Displaying musical maturity with Blueprint, their fresh
self-produced album of love and no regrets, the No Show
Ponies reach out to the listener and pull them into an
intimate environment of their own. With a rousing
live vibe, you can nearly sense the faint scent of a smoke machine.
With songwriting symmetry to that of Tom Petty's
poignancy, the foursome's cerebrally crafted songs
personally speak out to those wistful, yet hopeful
people of the world. "Maybe it was meant to be or
maybe I was meant to spend my whole life lost at sea,"
undertakes affairs of the heart in "I Don't Mind" with
a brooding melody about the importance of love over
any cost. Repeating the plausibility of fate in the
album's finale "Throwing it All Away," singer Ben Brown
confidently concludes, "If we were meant to be
then I'll see you again."
The Replacements, U2, and Jeff Buckley are stock
comparisons to artists of their genre, but they
additionally act as an inspiration to the band's
melodic and lyrical expansion. With the tight
brotherly brace of singer and acoustic guitarist
Ben Brown, electric guitarist and singer Jeff Brown,
bassist Jason Shover, and drummer Jordan Shover,
the aspiring musicians are doing a fine job of laying out their fate.
Shannon Collins