Puppet Show by Fitness
Puppet Show is the much anticipated follow up to Fitness' critically acclaimed self-titled debut EP released on Wiener Records in the Summer of 2015. The band carries the torch forward with a slightly more refined and slightly more mature sound. Don't Panic Records & Distro pressed a run of 300 7"s with 100 on violet vinyl and 200 on traditional black.
"Part of the undercovered and frankly underappreciated...scene of snot-nosed melodic-punk bands that can sweat out sing-along hooks just as well as they can shotgun tallboys of Old Style behind a Dumpster, Fitness put their faith in the power of the triumphant dual-guitar battle between riff boys Mike Hayes and Ian Lee. Their new six-song EP Puppet Show (Don’t Panic)...features a little bit of cock-rock glitz and glam spewed into the foursome’s abrasive, grimy brand of pop punk." Kevin Warwick, Chicago Reader
"Basically, most of Puppet Show sounds like it would be well-accompanied by Old Style cans spraying all over the place. You will probably get some of the guitar hooks stuck in your head before you learn the words, most likely the guitar lead at the beginning of "Sin Bad." Whatever else stands out about this release, it fittingly begins and ends with those blasting guitar licks." Phil Collins, Change the Rotation
"Two dueling yet harmonic guitars, a fast bass line, punked up drums, and gruelingly, gritty vocals make up this six song wonder. For a band that self-describes themselves as rarely doing push-ups, they’ve got stamina. The EP starts out with “Road Lizard,” which perfectly sets the tone. The theme of the EP is obviously “great grungy punk that makes you want to dance around with some cheap beer." Erin Doyle, The Bad Copy
"Puppet Show is a great EP from a band poised to do a lot more in the future. They’re exciting, there’s a sense of urgency to their music that’s infectious, enough aggression to sell the venom in the lyrics. Each song is an experience, with busy leads that bounce off each other like billiard balls on break, full throated singalongs begging to be shouted back; songs that come out swinging, gloves in the air and a pep in their step, hungry for connection." Carson Winter, Dying Scene
“The band burns through a meaty, forward-charging rock melody with the help of two guitars shooting off bottle-rocket riffs and some seriously gnarly, melodic scream-singing that occasionally gives way to some uplifting vocal harmonies.” Leor Galil, Chicago Reader
"Look. There’s a few rules here at DS. One is that you can’t cook fish in the microwave in the break room and the second is that the album of the year list must contain only LPs. Wellll, fuck that shit. When an EP this good comes out, I’m gonna add it to the list. Oh? You don’t like that? Well, here. Let me put it at #3. How’s that fit you? Six tracks is borderline LP anyway. All kidding aside, this is quite honestly, the perfect album…" AnarchoPunk
Tracklist
| 1. | Road Lizard | 2:08 |
| 2. | Sin Bad | 2:03 |
| 3. | Pauly's Shore | 2:05 |
| 4. | Jon's On Acid | 1:48 |
| 5. | Roseanne's Bar | 2:04 |
| 6. | Firebird | 3:01 |
Credits
Fitness is:
Dan - drums
Ian - guitar/vocals
Mark - bass/vocals
Mike - guitar/vocals
This is DP-008
