Biography

The Aluminum Group emerged from Chicago in the mid-'90s with a lushly orchestrated sound that had its roots in '70s soft pop and lounge, but also included elements of new wave, chamber pop, and even Tropicalia. The project of brothers John and Frank Navin, the band found some traction in the late '90s with a pair of well-regarded albums on the Minty Fresh label including 1999's Jim O'Rourke-produced standout Pedals. Working with various collaborators, the brothers continued to evolve their sophisticated pop sound into the 21st century with a trilogy of albums that concluded with 2008's Little Happyness. After a 14-year hiatus, the Aluminum Group returned in 2022 with their eponymous eighth album. Longtime staples of the Wicker Park music scene, John and Frank Navin first surfaced in 1982 as members of the hardcore band Women in Love. Despite their interest in punk, the brothers also harbored an affection for the softer, more intricately arranged music of the Carpenters and Claudine Longet as well as new wave and post-punk acts like Marine Girls and the Monochrome Set. After first experimenting as a performance art project called Bleak House, the brothers formed the Aluminum Group, taking their name from a line of furniture designed by Charles and Ray Eames. After spending the front half of the '90s honing their amalgam of influences, the band made their debut with 1995's self-released Wonder Boy. The album introduced the Aluminum Group's tasteful chamber pop style with songwriting that recalled, at times, everyone from Henry Mancini to the Magnetic Fields. For their follow-up album, the band joined the roster of rising Chicago indie Minty Fresh, which released 1998's Plano. By this point there was an active international scene made up of artists like the High Llamas, Louis Philippe, and Momus that was devoted to the type of sophisticated, loungey art-pop to which the Navins ascribed. Co-produced by Chicago auteur Jim O'Rourke, the Aluminum Group's third album, Pedals, was a career high point. Less synth-based than their previous two releases, Pedals brought to the fore the Navins' smart, often droll songwriting and delicate orchestrations, and featured contributions from Sally Timms (Mekons) and Sean O'Hagan (the High Llamas). Released in 2000, this time by a new Chicago indie called Hefty Records, Pelo brought the Aluminum Group into the 21st century and introduced more electronic elements into their mix, courtesy of Tortoise drummer and producer John Herndon. 2002's Happyness was a further development that incorporated some of the sweeping arrangements and electronics of their two prior albums while somehow recalling their earlier work. It also kicked off a trilogy of related albums that continued with 2003's Morehappyness and concluded with 2008's Little Happyness, each one exploring slightly different facets of the group's detailed and cinematic sound. After this, little was heard from the Navins, who ceased Aluminum Group operations throughout the 2010s. In early 2022, 14 years after their last new release, the Aluminum Group began releasing new singles including the droll "Color My Lips Hot Pink," a track that revisited their hallmark sound from a slightly more veteran place. It later appeared on the band's self-titled eighth album in April of that year. ~ Timothy Monger, Rovi