Those damned Mumford & Sons . . . they’re just so rad.  The appalachian folk music they throw down on Sigh No More has kept them buzzing on the internet blogosphere and their street-cred is right up there with Vampire Weekend, only with a dirty, barroom blitz kind of feel.

Not being a huge Vampire Weekend fan, “Cousins” was really one of the only tracks that I really really enjoyed on Contra.  Originally from the BBC Live Lounge sessions with Mumford & Sons, Stereogum recently premiered this cover and I thought it was definitely the rare case of a cover upending the original composition.  A folk stomper in the highest degree, this track makes me want to go out and buy a banjo.  According to Twitter, this cover comes with the stamp of approval from Vampire shoegazer Ezra Koenig, which means that folk music is the new style of prep-punk.

MP3:  “Cousins” – Mumford & Sons
MP3:  “Cousins” – Vampire Weekend

MP3: “Sister” – Mumford & Sons

So I have this friend, right? The dude smokes a lot of cigarettes and loves strippers. He’s not as scummy as he sounds . . . he just works in the snow/skate industry. All kidding aside, the dude grew up on a steady diet of awesome, under-the-radar music, just the same as I did. When there’s a band I’ve never heard of, guaranteed Jimmy T’s got it on lock and vice versa.  He’s kind of like “The Smoking Man” from the X-Files but without the trenchcoat.

I’ve read quite a bit about Mumford & Sons on the internet in the past couple months but never bothered to request some preview tracks from their label. With everything moving at the speed of light on the internet, my indie-ADD apparently kept me sleeping on Sigh No More. Nevertheless, I awoke yesterday to a comment on my Facebook wall from a certain, cigarette smoking Italian, saying something to the effect of “Mumford & Sons . . . get on it!”  Boy, was I missing out! Island records was kind enough to send me a couple of tracks, including this new single, “Sister”, and I’m definitely glad they did.

Here’s what I missed on TrendRobot a few months ago.  Here’s James Trabucco’s “Smokin’ Mp3 Pick”. Thanks for having my back Jimmy T!

• Mumford & Sons Official Site
• Hear more from Mumford & Sons on Myspace
• Support Mumford & Sons on