Air Formation's debut is a fine mix of dream pop and space rock. The band offers six tracks of swirling, underscored melodies and chiseled, droning ambience, covering twenty-three minutes of lo-fi distortion via spacey, near-dub production.

At their best, on "All is Fine," Air Formation sound like the kid siblings of The Jesus and Mary Chain. There's none of Psychocandy's sarcastic bite, but the band's cacophony is quite attractive nonetheless. Suggesting a less dreamy, less concise Kitchens Of Distinction, "All is Fine" soars along at a steady, fine pace. It's quite easy to let your mind float along with the music and forget about the stresses of modern life; the song's aggressive underpinnings simply add substance and texture. "Lunar" and "It Falls Away" contain similar elements, but they skew more toward the space rock oeuvre than Kitchens of Distinction or The Jesus and Mary Chain. It's almost as if Bardo Pond or Bowery Electric decided that they'd kick their My Bloody Valentine influence up a notch, to the point of actually mimicking Shields and company. The songs soothe as they alternate between noisy squalls and gentle sounds reminiscent of Michael Brook's infinite guitar. Vocals are buried and just out of reach, as required.

The only knock on the album is that it doesn't really take a definitive stance in one genre or another; they don't seem able to decide if they want to be a shoegazer outfit like My Bloody Valentine or a space rock band like Fuxa. Over the course of a longer album, Air Formation would probably be able to reconcile the two styles with interludes or tracks that better consolidate their influences and goals. Still, this mini-album is an effortlessly pretty listen. It presents its charms openly, whether one is listening intently to the buried melodies or simply using the music as a background for some relaxing hobby. The band knows its influences quite well, and they're successful mimics and able musicians. They're not adding anything new to the mix, but that's not really a requirement in their chosen genres. Air Formation works its subtle magic via dynamic, distorted guitars and dreamy vocals. They should be welcomed quite easily into the field of bands who charm with both noise and melody.