Life In A Bungalo

Last year, Life In A Bungalo spent most of CMJ hunting for punk and street rock bands—and failing miserably. This year there is no searching. With showcases from Fat Wreck Chords and a night of classic New Jersey punk rock, indie rock is finally faltering a bit to the crusty sounds of power chords. Here are our must see picks for the week. Don’t forget to bring popcorn and be prepared to veg out on Saturday, as CMJ will be screening every Joe Strummer movie to date. Not a bad way to end a rocking week.

Tuesday
Panels
Kimmel Center: Eisner & Lubin Auditorium
2:30 pm - 3:30 pm: Punk’s Still Not Dead

Music
Webster Hall
8:15pm Modern Life is War
9:00pm Lifetime
10:00pm Bouncing Souls

Films
Frank & Cindy
Directed by G.J. Ekternkamp
73 minutes
Tuesday, October 16, 7:00pm, Pop Rally at The Museum of Modern Art
Frank is not the vision Cindy married. Desperate to resuscitate her dream of Frank becoming a rock star, Cindy furnishes a new studio for him in hopes he’ll record another hit. Instead, he’d rather drink. Upset by his lack of ambition, Cindy berates him incessantly. Now, twenty-three years after appearing on American Bandstand with his short-lived group, OXO, Frank is sequestered in his filthy basement studio. Both appalled and amused by his parents’ behavior, Cindy’s filmmaker son, G.J., picks up his video camera and aims it at them. After a year of filming, what began as an attempt to mock his one-hit-wonder stepfather, instead becomes a candid portrait of the pursuit of happiness.
Post-screening Q&A with director G.J. Ekternkamp and Cynthia Brown and Frank Garcia moderated by This American Life’s Ira Glass

Wednesday
Panels
Frederick Loewe Theater: Room 300
3:30 pm - 4:30 pm: Biting the Dust: The Decline of the Album Format

Music
Apple Store Soho
2:00pm Thurston Moore

Fillmore New York at Irving Plaza
9:00pm The Nightwatchman
9:50pm Serj Tankian

Films
Greetings From The Shore
Directed by Greg Chwerchak
118 minutes
Wednesday, October 17, 3:30pm, IFC Center
Starring: Kim Shaw, Paul Sorvino and David Fumero
Still reeling from the death of her father, a young girl spends one last summer at the Jersey Shore before heading off to college. But when her plans fall apart, the girl stumbles into a mysterious world of Russian sailors, high-stakes gambling, and unexpected love.
Post-screening Q&A with director Greg Chwerchak and members from the cast, Kim Shaw and David Fumero.

Thursday
Music
Knitting Factory Tap Bar
6:15pm Fake Problems
7:00pm Sundowner
7:45pm American Steel
8:30pm The Falcon
9:15pm Smoke Or Fire
10:00pm Tim Barry
11:00pm The Loved Ones
1:00am Gods & Monsters

Films
Quarterlife
Directed by Marshall Herskovitz
60 minutes
Thursday, October 18, 3:30pm, IFC Center
Quarterlife is a show about a group of twentysomethings coming of age in the digital generation. And a social network about what it means to be creative, to pursue a passion, to make a difference in the world — or just to find a place in it.
Post-screening Q&A with Director/Producer Marshall Herskovitz

Flesh and Blood
Directed by Larry Silverman
65 minutes
Thursday, October 18, 2:00pm, IFC Center
Flesh and Blood is the story of American underground artist and cult figure Steve Haworth who spawned a subculture fixated on his invention of an extreme form of body modification.

Friday
Panels
Kimmel Center: Eisner & Lubin Auditorium
11:45 am - 12:45 pm: DIY or DIE 2:30 pm - 3:45 pm: Lost in the Supermarket?: Breaking the Clash in 2007

Music
B.B. King’s
8:00pm Christopher Cross
10:00pm Devin the Dude
11:00pm Bukue One
11:00pm The Coughee Brothaz
11:00pm DJ Soulico
11:00pm Serendipity Project
11:00pm Del the Funky Homosapien

Terminal 5
8:00pm M.I.A.

Films
Before The Music Dies
Directed by Andrew Shapter
93 minutes
Friday, October 19, 3:00pm, Tribeca Cinemas
Before The Music Dies tells the story of American music at this precarious moment. Filmmakers Andrew Shapter and Joel Rasmussen traveled the country, hoping to understand why mainstream music seems so packaged and repetitive, and whether corporations really had the power to silence musical innovation. The answers they found on this journey are what make this documentary both riveting and exhilarating.

Planet In Peril
90 minutes
Friday, October 19, 1:15pm, IFC Center
Bringing viewers the stories behind the statistics, CNN anchor Anderson Cooper, chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta and Animal Planet host and wildlife biologist Jeff Corwin focus on four main issues that threaten the planet and its inhabitants: climate change, deforestation, species loss and overpopulation.
Post-screening Q&A with Anderson Cooper

Saturday
Panels
Frederick Loewe Theater: Room 300
1:00 pm - 2:30 pm: If I Had a Hammer: Modern Protest Music

Music
Maxwell’s
9:30pm The Intelligence
10:30pm Jay Reatard
11:30pm The Dirtbombs

Films
Joe Strummer: The Future is Unwritten
Directed by Julien Temple
124 minutes
Saturday, October 20, 11:00am, 5:45pm, Tribeca Cinemas
In The Future is Unwritten, Joe Strummer is revealed not just as a legend or musician, but as a true communicator of our times. Drawing on both a shared punk history and the close personal friendship that developed over the last years of Joe’s life, director Julien Temple celebrates the life of Joe Strummer - before, during and after the Clash.

Rude Boy
Directed by David Mingay and Jack Hazan
127 minutes
Saturday, October 20, 2:30pm, 5:00pm, Tribeca Cinemas
Rude Boy is a distinctive music documentary. It captures the still-young Clash – the late Joe Strummer, Mick Jones, Paul Simonon, and Nicky Headon at the edgy, primitive moment they moved from the fringe to center stage in mid-1978.

The Clash: Westway to the World
Directed by Don Letts
107 minutes
Saturday, October 20, 11:30am, 2:15pm, Tribeca Cinemas
Westway to the World follows a fairly traditional format, interspersing talking-head interviews with band members, live concert clips, still photos, and other assorted footage.