Mark Linkous, longtime mastermind of the alternative rock project Sparklehorse, died by suicide in 2010, when he was 47. Very little Sparklehorse music has come out since Linkous’ passing, but we’re about to get the release of Bird Machine, the album that Linkous was working on at the time of his dead. Linkous’ brother Matt and sister-in-law Melissa have been working on finishing the LP, and we’ve already posted the early tracks “It Will Never Stop,” “Evening Star Supercharger,” and “The Scull Of Lucia,” the last of which features Grandaddy’s Jason Lytle. Today, we get to hear Mark Linkous’ cover of a Robyn Hitchcock oldie.

Robyn Hitchcock, the culty British singer-songwriter and former Soft Boys leader, was one of the original figures who combined punk’s DIY spirit with surreal psychedelia, and you can see how he might’ve made a deep impression on someone like Mark Linkous. Hitchcock first released his fired-up song “Listening To The Higsons” as a 1982 B-side, and it’s since popped up on the 1985 live album Gotta Let This Hen Out! and the 1986 odds-and-ends collection Invisible Hitchcock. The Higsons were a UK punk-funk band, and “Listening To The Higsons” is based on Hitchock mishearing one of their lyrics.

Mark Linkous heard “Listening To The Higsons” when the song was still new, and it was one of his favorites for years. Linkous recorded his cover with Steve Albini at Electrical Audio in Chicago. The Sparklehorse take on the song is heavier and cruchier, with a whole lot more distortion, but it keeps the original’s goony spirit alive. Below, check out the Sparklehorse version of “Listening To The Higsons,” as well as the Robyn Hitchcock original.

Bird Machine is out 9/8 on Anti-.