Ordinary Neighbors
A Myth of What Was Forever
(Self-Release)
FFO: Title Fight, Spraynard, Dowsing
Joe Calixto first met Shaun Badong via Myspace back in 2008 – a friendship further solidified with a chance encounter at San Francisco’s respected punk venue SUB/Mission Art Space. Years later, Calixto would uproot his life in L.A. to begin again in Northern California and inevitably teamed up with Badong and to be create a project wholly their own. 2015 saw Ordinary Neighbors releasing material in earnest and establishing themselves as a staple in the Bay area and Northern California punk scene. Their music even spanned across the Pacific to the band’s native home of the Philippines, a feat further solidified with a split with Manila experimental punk band Small Hands. Inspired by equal parts mid- 90s imported CD collection and California’s brand of thrashy punk, Ordinary Neighbors is the missing link between The Get Up Kids and Title Fight.
A Myth of What Was Forever is the band’s first proper album. It fully encapsulates the spirit of the “pinoy” punks walking the thin line between polished and punk. Calixto’s deep, dark bass tones growling over young prodigy Nate Thomas-Punty’s unrelenting drum assault serve as a perfect bed for Badong’s richly textured overdriven guitar tones. The vocal interplay between Calixto and Badong is one of the crucial elements in the chemistry of Ordinary Neighbors. The connection between the two front men is deep and easily felt often helping each other convey narratives of heartbreak and loss – playing into their tongue in cheek self-depiction as “sad punks.”
The album branches out in a number of different directions like the joyful brass section on “Less of a Man” to dreamy opening guitar lines of “Safe and Sound.” In true Ordinary Neighbors fashion, the tracks are sporadic and full of energy – worthy of jumping around in your bedroom with a guitar around your neck. A notable stand out is “Joe’s Song,” a slow burner on the back end of the release that proudly stands as one of the album’s shining gems. (Elmer Martinez)
Purchase A Myth of What Was Forever here.
