Rock Candy

I do it. If you're reading this column, there's a good chance you do it, too. Most people can be caught doing it hunched over their computer with headphones strapped onto their ears to hide all the noise. People all over do it a whole lot, but particularly during this time of year. Just look at the internet. It's all over the place. And when I made my own "favorite albums of 2010" list, "All the Waters of the Earth Shall Turn to Blood," the newest release from Rhode Island-based, Arkansas-natives of The Body, was too great to deny, breaking through my fortified "no metal (usually) allowed" barrier to sit amongst mixed company in my own top ten list. It's definitely the most psychotic noise on my lineup: 50 minutes of beat-heavy, doomy drums and psychotically intense vocals bellowing about stuff I'd rather not dwell upon. Jim James, apocalypse, gun wounds, that kind of jazz. (The album is streaming in all its icky glory at http://bit.ly/thebodyalbum.) Now set in Providence, drummer Lee Buford and guitarist Chip King are bringing their assault back to Little Rock after the duo managed to blow out the Juanita's P.A. in 20 minutes, flat, this August. Godspeed, White Water Tavern speakers. It may take a holiday miracle for them to survive.