Call it a case of local bad boys making good. The raucous Queen City-based quintet Every Time I Die has been gaining global notoriety for both its incensed, ear-splitting hardcore/metal and its outrageous, hard-partying rock antics. If Santa’s keeping an eye on them, he has undoubtedly placed them on his naughty list (especially with incidents like singer Keith Buckley’s arrest for public drunkenness on 2004’s Ozzfest Tour). For ETID’s career as a band, however, 2005 has been nothing but nice. The group’s album Gutter Phenomenon (Ferret) catapulted them to the forefront of heavy rock, and tastemaking major mag Revolver named the disc the “#1 album of 2005.” Perhaps in trying to gain some favor with Santa, the boys are closing out 2005 with a good deed. On Sunday (Dec. 18), Every Time I Die headlines a Toys For Tots benefit with two more Buffalo acts —It Dies Today and Dead Hearts—that are making a lot of noise beyond these city walls. Nothing quite like a trio of bands with the words “dead” and “die” in their doomy monikers to give it up for the kids at the holidays.

Alec Soth’s photographs have a dirty realism and real poetry in documentary clarity. Large-format, color prints find the intimate moments in rural vistas, off-the-beaten track motels, and corners of stranger’s homes. Sometimes Soth photographs people, and at other times it is the absence of populations that tells the story. The Minnestoa-based photographer is currently working on a project titled “NIAGARA,” a series that premieres at the esteemed Gagosian Gallery in New York City next month. He will be at the Albright-Knox this Friday as part of the free, weekly, Gusto at the Gallery event called “Through the Lens: an evening with Alec Soth.” He will talk about his work at 8pm in the gallery’s auditorium. Adding to the Big Picture theme of the evening, CEPA Gallery hosts a large-format Polaroid, still-life photography workshop from 5:30 to 7:30pm, and Lorna Simpson’s untitled piece, which compiles archival gelatin prints, will also be discussed at 6pm. Simpson’s work explores racial stereotypes and gender inequities through the use of traditional silhouettes. Also on the scene will be Bright Lights Groove City: DJ Scotty in Clifton Hall, 6-10pm.

Just released by Buffalo’s Uncrowned Queens Institute for Research and Education on Women, Volume III of Uncrowned Queens: African American Women Community Builders is a new book about the Niagara Movement that celebrates the lives of African American Western New Yorkers. On Friday (Dec. 16), the book’s editors, UB professors and co-chairs of Uncrowned Queens, Dr. Barbara Seals Nevergold and Dr. Peggy Brooks-Bertram (pictured), will be on hand to sign copies of the book at Talking Leaves’ Main Street store. Volume III commemorates the 100th birthday of the Niagara Movement, which began in Buffalo in 1905, with works by Drusilla Dunjee Houston, author of the 1917 poem “America’s Uncrowned Queens.” This “original paper” and another written about the Buffalo’s role in the Niagara Movement are joined by biographies of 100 women “who helped to build the Buffalo, Western New York and border cities of Canada communities.” The book is the Institute’s first bi-national recognition of how African American women influenced and preserved African history and culture in Canadian border towns. For more information on Uncrowned Queens, see www.wings.buffalo.edu/uncrownedqueens.

Peggy Farrell and Friends are shaking a little spice onto Buffalo’s musical season with their upcoming jazz performance at St. Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral. The jazz ensemble, featuring Michael T. Jones on the piano, Paul Laducca on bass, and John Bacon Jr. on drums, is sure to give holiday music tastes some much-needed variety. Also featured at this concert is renowned organist and choirmaster Drew Cantrill, who leads his highly praised Buffalo boys’ choir through a program of holiday favorites to kick off a weekend full of song (see more at musicatstpauls.org). Hailing from England, Cantrill has performed in cathedrals across the globe, delivering brilliant performances and making a name for himself on the international music scene. With a previous choir, Cantrill had the honor of performing for the Queen of England and also contributed to Howard Shore’s film score for The Lord of the Rings. Together, Farrell and Cantrill’s mixture of jazz and choral music should make for an unforgettable holiday event.