THE BLOODTYPES - Pull The Plug LP Lord Rutledge on his "Faster and Louder" blog calling: Woo hoo! The long-awaited second album from THE BLOODTYPES has arrived! What a wonderful way to finish off a great year for music! Hailing from Portland, Oregon, THE BLOODTYPES are one of my favorite present-day bands. I just love what this group represents: a return to the energy and fun of '77 punk/new wave and early '80s synth-pop - with lyrics that walk a fine line between sci-fi silliness and serious social commentary. It's been three-and-a-half years since THE BLOODTYPES released their first album, and the brand-new Pull The Plug does not disappoint! These are the catchiest and strongest songs yet from this most excellent band! If you were looking forward to more BLONDIE, REZILLOS, EPOXIES type new wave action, well there's plenty of that to be found here. But on this record, the band integrates all kinds of influences into its distinctive punk/wave sound. Taking on styles ranging from full-on early '80s hardcore ("Panic", "Rejected") to melodic synth-pop ("Modern Love", "Television Dreams") with additional hints of dance, prog, and garage rock, THE BLOODTYPES are not about to give you a chance to get bored! Seriously: there's no other band out there quite like this! Schneck Tourniquet continues to impress on lead vocals - showing the spunk to propel the album's more upbeat tracks along with a tenderness and humanity so crucial to slower songs like "Back From Space". And what a lovely voice she has! As you'd expect from a BLOODTYPES album, songs cover such topics as S & M, spies, boyfriends in space, and the mass murder of aliens. But the band also tackles contemporary concerns about technology and society on this record. A lot of these songs have a great deal to say about how we're being manipulated into our own unhappiness by television, electronic devices, and a larger cyber-universe that distorts our realities. That said, the "message" of this release is not heavy-handed in any way. This is a fun record that will make you want to dance, jump around, and enjoy life. And if it also makes you think a little, well that's icing on the cake!