First put online on the Head Heritage website in 2004
'Soresucker' was a 12" vinyl that was released in 1990.
It was also by then, one of the 30+ releases that NWW chief pilot Steven Stapleton had put out in his first 12 years of unleashing his warped creations into the world.
It's now unavailable, but the two tracks that make up this release, can be found (together with the 'Yagga Blues' EP) on the 'Funeral Music For Perez Prado' release from 2001.
If you can get hold of 'Soresucker' though, it would be highly recommended. One of the main reasons, apart from the unsettling sounds that you will hear, is the choice of 'artwork' that graced the cover and plays a large part in the overall 'experience' of the disc.
The cover consists of two photographs, maybe they are 'found' images, maybe Stapleton even knows the people featured in the shots.
The two tracks are "I Am The Poison" and "Journey Through Cheese" and I have always associated the two photos with the two tracks.
If you are a 'people-watcher', then these images and sound will serve you well.
It really is quite odd when listening to "I Am The Poison" whilst staring at the cover photo of the sleazy spiv.
Stapleton is joined by Sol Invintus mainman Tony Wakeford who provides a lightly throbbing Bass Guitar line and some excellent Vocal intonations (he would later release a full album with Stapleton- "The Return Of The Selfish Shellfish" in 1992).
"I am the wicked and I am the poison......I am the plastic and I am the grave" he murmers- before his minimal Bass notes set the pace whilst Stapleton provides some reverbed percussive spits and spacious electronic sounds.
The look on the face of the 'sleazy man' in the photo seems to get more intense as the track slowly builds with Wakefords voice now being double-tracked with vari-speed voices and moans, the odd scraped Guitar strings also adding a bit more menace as the Voices proclaim- "I am the Soul....the Rotting Soul". Seeing as the title 'Soresucker' is printed across the sleazy man photo, I take it that 'he' is the 'poison' and he will also suck the poison out of the sore....no ?
On to "Journey Through Cheese"...
Relentless machine clanks punctuated with sounds of broken glass and processed squeals 'n' groans catch you like a rabbit in the headlights and I can't help thinking that this is the sound that the folks in the photo have running through their heads day and night! It's certainly a psychotic ride and as with most of Stapleton's creations, it is best listened to with the headphones clamped onto your head and the volume turned up as much as you can bear it.
There is a longer version of 'Cheese' on the later 'Perez Prado' release, which I thought was a bit pointless as it works so well in this original shorter take.
Also, with this being released in 1990, at a time when a lot of 'experimental' figures in the underground were throwing their arms around the latest technology and mutating current 'techno' trends, Stapleton (as ever) just followed his own path.
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Written by Tim Jones in august 2004
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