Horse play

They come armed with a new album, It’s A Wonderful Life, which includes contributions from Tom Waits, Polly Harvey and Nina Persson.

“I imagine for this LP it’ll be, ‘What was it like working with insert famous person here?’” deadpans mainman Mark Linkous. “Well it wasn’t actually the famous PJ Harvey, but a local banjo player, Phil J. Harvey. And not Tom Waits, but his cousin, Ron Waits. Ron played on two songs. He would’ve played on more but he couldn’t get the time off work.”

Stand-up routine completed, Linkous says that, “The mood is, I don’t know, similar to Lou Reed’s Berlin or Smog’s Red Apple Falls. If I’m going to contribute to modern rock, it has to be in an interesting manner.”

Tickets for the shows – which also feature the myriad talents of Ed Harcourt, Gemma Hayes and DJ Pat McMellow – are on sale now priced £10.