The Public’s weekly local music reviews and previews. 

Plain Brown Envelopes  Album:  Love In A Plain Brown Envelope  Recommended if You Like:  Current 93, Elliott Smith, Nick Drake

Veteran songwriter Bill Nehill is not short on musical projects. His latest is called Plain Brown Envelopes and features fellow musician Katie Quider. The duo launched the project with the release of a full record titled Love In A Plain Brown Envelope. According to the albums linear notes it was recorded “in a tiny bedroom” in the fall of 2015. The self-described “post-death folk” duo deliver bitter sweet, atmospheric folk songs stripped down at times to reverberated acoustic guitar, a few vocal layers, and some tambourine on songs like “In This Place of Design.” Other tracks, like “The One Who Opened Your Eyes” consist simply of Nehill’s smoky voice harmonized with Quider’s wispy background vocals, and an electric guitar. The album exudes genuine emotion without coming off as melodramatic and knows to wrap it up before the listener can melt into a puddle of tears themselves. 

I’m From The Government And I’m Here To Help  Album:  Capital Punishment  RIYL:  All That Remains, Every Time I Die, As I Lay Dying

On April 2, Buffalo heavy metal band I’m From the Government and I’m Here to Help will release their new album Capital Punishment. The six-track record, which unapologetically airs out a certain conservative ambiance (the band’s name was unironically pulled from a quote by Ronald Regan) is full of concise, well-produced chugging heavy metal. In December the band released the first single from the record, “This Life Sentence” complete with a chaotic new music video that portrays the band as down home boys rocking out in front of a firepit. Like the first single, the rest of the record is full of high energy metal tracks that often have hooky refrains and occasionally, massive breakdowns that key into Buffalo’s well-known hardcore sound. Other highlights include the blistering and thrashy “Common Sense” and the call-to-action anthem “Stand Up and Fight.”