It’s probably indie blasphemy to put it out there, but I’ll cop to having only a vague familiarity with the work of singer-songwriter Daniel Johnston. Of course, I’ve never purported to be that cool; I had tickets to the rebooted Lilith Fair, not Pitchfork, this weekend in Chicago, though I didn’t make it back.

I also must admit that I haven’t followed Mates of State since 2006 when Entertainment Weekly featured “Fraud In The ’80s” as part of its “Download This!” feature. But last month, the husband-and-wife indie-pop duo (helpful background here) released Crushes (The Covers Mixtape), thus returning Kori Gardner and Jason Hammel to my radar.

On the 10-song set, Mates of State tackle tunes from Nick Cave (“Love Letters”), Fleetwood Mac (“Second Hand News”), Death Cab For Cutie (“Technicolor Girls”), Girls (“Laura”), and others. But the duo ultimately saves the best for last, closing out Crushes with a cover of the aforementioned Daniel Johnston’s “True Love Will Find You In The End.”

Johnston’s original is, as any vague familiarity with his work would suggest, an intimate, lo-fi recording. But as Gardner recently explained to ABC News, “You can’t just sort of imitate his version. It’s too raw and too heartwrenching for us to do it, and do it justice. We had to make it fun somehow.” So though the duo aren’t the first to give “True Love” a go — the song has previously been covered by Beck and Wilco, among other Johnston acolytes — the change of tempo and tone is what separates Mates of States’ take from the rest. And it makes me more curious about Johnston’s own work, something only the best covers do.

The video’s pretty fun too. Hear here:

Snag a free download of Mates of States – “True Love Will Find You In The End” via their official website, where Crushes (The Covers Mixtape) is just $5.