There is a new Young Elk record coming later this year, an album that promises to build on the bitter dejection of The Dark Side of the Holy Ghost, but in the meantime Rudick has been exploring different directions away from the band. As such, we’re pleased to introduce you to Leaky Engine, a brand new solo project from Rudick that maintains the dispirited worldview through a different musical lens. Described as an “experiment in slowness,” the project strips down the sound, leaving the vocals front and centre, allowing an unhurried immersion in the grim sadness and simmering anger of Rudick’s voice.

Today we’re sharing the project’s first single. As the title suggests, ‘John Birch Society Blues’ charts the distinct sorrow and anxiety that stems from an upbringing on the ideological fringe, where religious fundamentalism colours all thought and existence becomes and extended eschatological battle. The result of such beliefs is not so much conviction but the very opposite, a generalised paranoia where religious and political fears merge and the Rapture lies around every corner. A life governed by disaster and dread.

“bought me a gun when I was 12
with a banana clip that held
about 30 shells

i was so scared
of the government
thought i should be prepared
for the apocalypse”

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