If we’re refraining from the personal: this is a very cool instance of one great band covering another great band. If we’re not refraining from the personal: this is one of my favorite bands covering my absolute favorite Mountain Goats song. In this cover, John Darnielle’s affable, heartfelt lyrics meet the Hold Steady’s bottom-shelf-soaked rock and roll on “Southwood Plantation Road” (from 2002’s Tallahassee). MP3 and video after the jump.

This apparently took place at an acoustic show in Mojo, Leeds back on May 18th. Warning: visibility on the video is rather low, but the MP3 recording is pretty high quality. Hat tip: So This Is What the Volume Knob’s For.

MP3: