A Lot Like Us is an up and coming alternative rock/electronic/pop duo featuring Alex Matkovic and Janelle Trieu. Matkovic handles the production as well as the guitars and synths. Trieu sings three out of the four songs on this Halloween-themed debut EP and also plays the piano and certain guitar sections. “Hallow” was released October 28th of this year, just in time for Halloween. The band currently does not have their own website, but their material can be found at the bandcamp link listed above.
“Hallow” is a very short, holiday-themed EP. Taking this into account, listeners need to appreciate the work for what it is. While these tracks might fit well into the playlist at your next Halloween party, listeners can’t really consider this EP from the standpoint of a full, focused release. Therefore, if one understands they aren’t supposed to take away anything huge from these songs, it can be stated that “Hallow” is actually a fun listen. The first song on the track, as stated, would fill out in a Halloween party quite well; the synthy organ has a static, yet decent melody, and Trieu’s singing and lyrics seem to match the overall atmosphere of the track quite well. It’s basically just two people with synths and guitars singing about scary Halloween stuff, but overall it works for what it is trying to accomplish. The best track on “Hallow” is the second, titled “Carve Your Heart Out”. As can be expected, the subject matter is a little morbid, but overall, this song is probably the most artful, creative, polished, and insightful on the EP. Trieu’s voice is at its best in this song, at times sounding somewhat reminiscent of Lorde, but with a bit more of a breathy quality. The lyrics are the best on the EP, and serve as somewhat of a departure from the campy, somewhat cheesy lyrics that listeners will find throughout the rest of “Hallow”. Moreover, the instrumentation on “Carve Your Heart Out” is also arguably the best on the EP. Trieu’s piano work is probably the largest musical contribution to this album, and the piano section on “Carve Your Heart Out”, while dark and somewhat understated, is actually quite beautiful. However, the song also makes an excellent usage of effects on Matkovic’s part. A sweeping, distorted, echo-like chorus effect is placed into the song that really adds to its overall dark ambiance and almost suggests a sort of “call and response” between Trieu and Matkovic. For a four song Halloween-themed EP, its actually quite artful.
This album is by no means a distinguished musical work. The production is lackluster, the synths are somewhat underwhelming, and the drum machine (particularly the bass drum) can be very annoying because of its one-dimensionality. Neither Trieu nor Matkovic is a good vocalist. The last song is the only track that Matkovic sings on; it’s somewhat amusing, but incredibly mediocre. The lyrics, aside from “Carve Your Heart Out”, are usually unnecessarily gory, campy, or cheesy. Most of these songs would satisfy as background music, but beyond that, there really isn’t much to the material. The instrumentation is typically flat and repetitive, with the exception of a few of Trieu’s piano compositions. This is not a “listener’s album”, this is the kind of music that you play once at a party for about ten minutes, then move on to something else. “Hallow” is a low budget Halloween album; that being said, it has a pretty limited audience.
Overall, “Hallow” may be good for your Halloween party, but that’s about it. Let it be known that A Lot Like Us is certainly a group with potential; “Carve Your Heart Out” was an excellent track, and demonstrates that Trieu and Matkovic can make good music that doesn’t necessarily have to fall in accordance with a holiday. There is something here, but how much is yet to be known.
~ Owen Matheson
Artist: A Lot Like Us
Album: Hallow
Label: Independent
Website: http://alotlikeus.bandcamp.com/releases
Genre: Alternative Rock/Pop
Sounds Like: Lorde with elements of alternative rock
Technical Grade: 5/10
Production/Musicianship Grade: 5/10
Commercial Value: 3/10
Overall Talent Level: 5/10
Songwriting Skills: 5/10
Performance Skills: 5/10
Best Songs: Carve Your Heart Out
Strengths: Some interesting and innovative effects, overall presentation on some tracks is quite artful
Weaknesses: Overly campy, vocals are mediocre at best, instrumentation isn’t that spectacular