Alli Deleo and Francis Hooper have been releasing short missives as Doohickey Cubicle. Now it is time for a full dip into their bent notion of shoegazey indie synth-pop.

Doohickey Cubicle Don't Fix Anything (self-released)

Clearly the pair is serious about its music, but not serious enough to avoid having fun. This languid (yet hardly inert) set is just the cure for the current malaise. Infused into the laptop sound are R&B beats and riffs; in fact, I'm tempted to throw this into its own wacky offshoot of that sound. Imagine the first couple Prince albums slowed down and drenched in keyboards. Oh, and instead of songs about sex, sex and lots more sex there are songs about not much of anything in particular.

This is an album that absolutely insists that you chill. Kids on your nerves? About to commit partnercide? Lock yourself in a closet and put this on your headphones. In half an hour, you'll feel a lot better. Or you will until little Sheena throws a rock through the screen door that you just replaced because she took a hammer to the old one last month.

This album does not let real life get in the way of its chill vibe. Call it the ultimate escape or just say "whoa." You deserve a break today. And tomorrow. Doohickey Cubicle is here for you. Call it a musical virus if you like. It just might inoculate you against the craptastic days we've been having for, um, a year or so. Mellow goodness.

Jon Worley