GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE December 15,2000

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JASON PICKLEMAN

Finally, a 21 and over casual contemporary watering hole.

Navin brothers,

can you spare a song?

Frank and John Navin

the duck island club

2102 freeman avenue cleveland 216.621.7676 monday-friday 5pm-2am ▾ saturday 7pm-2am

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by Bob Findle

To be honest, I am a bit hesitant to write this article. Part of me wants to keep the Aluminum Group out of the commercial spotlight, keep the Navin brothers a niche musical product that only a select bunch of people know about. Our cool, little secret, as it were.

In a world numbed into an aural coma by blenderized pap from 98 BB Boys Synching in the Backstreet, I guess I really shouldn't keep such a good thing as Frank and John Navin and their music to myself. Although they say they don't mind being a word-ofmouth group.

"That is a joy for Frank and I," says John. "I think it is special that somebody might listen to us, like it and then pass it on to a friend. It's grassroots. That is a beautiful thing in itself." He pauses, "But, I am not going to lie, I would like to see more people know about us."

Pelo, the Aluminum Group's latest release on their new label Hefty Records, is already being snapped up by fans. It is more of the Navins' smooth, nuanced sounds, velvet vocals and intimate, thoughtful lyrics. More of, but yet different from what can be heard on predecessors Pedals (1999), Plano (1998) and Wonder Boys (1998).

John says of making the CDs: "Each one is that the criteria are not to ever be duplicated, but to make each CD something we are proud of, number one, and two, that we go into a new area and we stay fresh."

Because their music is unique, many comparisons get pulled out to describe the Navin brothers' crop of work. While almost every critic throws in a wise nod to the pop mastery of Burt Bacharach, I first thought of them as being in the vein of the Style Council's complexity, but less frantic than Paul Weller can be at times. Also, there is the similarity to the silky throat of Brian Ferry. Lyrically, the quality is reminiscent of the Pet Shop Boys, early Everything but the Girl and Morrissey, during and after the Smiths.

The ten-number Pelo takes a couple of listens to fully grasp everything.

So much vibe and quiet beat are syncopating in the background, they can be elusive. Considerably more instrumental than previous releases (the trancey almost sixminute "Good-bye Goldfish, Hi Piranha “ has a scant 30 seconds of vocal from Sally Timms), the tight production adds not a guitar strum too many nor an extra organ chord to bog down the often seamless transitions from track to track

The best examples of this are the three "relationship" songs "Worrying Kind," "Satellite" and "Cannot Make You Out." Almost a suite, the three pieces feature Frank and John, along with Timms and Amy Warren trading vocals and harmonizing. The women's sophisticated higher vocal registers complement the guys' equally cultured baritones like clear wine and smoky cheese.

Going back to Plano, you can hear the progression of the Navin sound. A masterpiece collection of 12 tracks, the CD is one encapsulated moment after another. Mostly love songs ranging from happy together to sad you're gone, it is sweet to hear words of male-for-male affection overlaying hardto-forget melodies. "Sugar & Promises," "Sunday Morning" and "Chocolates" take up residence in your brain and refuse to leave. "Star Wish" is the standout for me, with a rich, flowing vocal by Frank and close harmonies by John. It is followed by "Photograph," another pleaser with a gently tumbling vocal.

Pedals moves the sound into a more arty tone. Suave vocals; clever lyrics dotted with mentions of iconistic trash and treasures such as fortune cookies, Valley of the Dolls, artist Marcel Duchamp and author Thomas Hardy; the occasional banjo or saxophone accent, all make this CD work like a soundtrack to a 10 one-act show. The threeand four-minute "dramas" all come from the Navins' fertile minds. Love here is urban and its workings variant and sometimes weary-making.

Plano, an FM feast; Pedals, a salon offering; Pelo, a pop-laced progressive musical haiku.

Frank offers an explanation for the directions: "When John and I first started out we wanted all of our music to sound like it was coming from an AM radio-that simple and at that level. As we have worked, we have dissected songs. They are very constructed songs, not jam sessions. We talk about this at great length-how we want to fashion a song, experiment with the song."

Their sexuality, Frank says, contributes to their music, but it is not the whole driving factor.

"We are primary people and that is really important to me," he says. "My sexually does play a role in my life, but it is not everything I do. I am a songwriter. I am gay, gay, gay. As far as song writing goes, I do draw from personal experiences, but I also tell stories. It is all intertwined."

John adds: "Our music is about people relating to people, whatever you are.

I do hope that it can transcend to where it is more about identification, that when people listen, they get a lot of things out of our music."

When they were first putting the group together, John says he was very conscious and deliberate about being out as a gay man.

"That is what I am, so that is what filters through every thing I do," he says. “I am a very sensual and sexual person. Music is about what is interesting to me. I write about what I know best: my own experiences."

According to Frank, being open hasn't been a career issue.

"We don't deal in the music industry," he says. "We are not selling millions of CDs. We are dealing with a select group of people."

Which brings me back to the cool, little secret of the Aluminum Group. Now, you know it too. Join.