The local alt-rock trio Pompous Pilot wouldn't exist if it weren't for the ongoing quest to strike a balance.

Vocalist/guitarist Kiley Bodenhamer found a general blueprint for what he would like to accomplish the first time he heard a CD by the crashing guitar genius of seminal shoegazers My Bloody Valentine back in the early 2000s.

"When I first got My Bloody Valentine, I thought the CD was broke," Bodenhamer recalls. "If you could just put melody in there somewhere, I could create this balance that I was after."

But the work of Pompous Pilot has grown beyond inserting one element into another band's signature sound, as displayed on the self-produced debut album "roads?" The group plans to celebrate with a CD release party at 9 p.m. Nov. 7 at Room 107.

This is Pompous Pilot's first release, but it's hardly a new band. Bodenhamer, drummer Eric Skeens and bassist Sam Blumer have been jamming together since 2003.

After they first got together, Bodenhamer realized with Blumer's solid bass groove and Skeens' restraint and technical proficiency, the creative spark was present to bring about Pompous Pilot's initial vision.

"It would never happen if I was in a room by myself trying to do this stuff," he says. "What that particular person brings to the table musically will influence what you play."

The group has played off and on in St. Joe and occasionally Kansas City. They continued crafting original material and building a proper home studio in Bodenhamer's downtown apartment until "roads?" could finally be recorded.

Musically speaking, Bodenhamer will be the first to admit his technical shortcomings. That's fine. The melody is what counts.

Drawing inspiration from the production of The Beatles albums and Frank Zappa records like "Joe's Garage," "roads?" is full of melodies buried neck-deep in dreamy and often dissonant atmospherics partially inspired by his other group, St. Joe post-rockers The Rogers.

Songs take unexpected forms through nine tracks, whether it's the head-butting riffs and slinky funk bass on "Circuit Board Restaurant" or the playful The Flaming Lips-inspired "Weight of the World" soaked in wah-wah guitars. Making sure each song has unique characteristics is a Pompous trait.

"I don't want it to be an AC/DC record. I don't want you to listen to that one song and every other song sounds the same," Bodenhamer says.

While Bodenhamer's lyrics often tread the line between the personal and the ambiguous, one of the band's oldest songs "St. Joe Wrecking Ball" also was included to reiterate his view of downtown's deterioration and preserving the city's historic architecture.

"I think it's an important song, one of the most important songs on there with the cause it supports," Bodenhamer says.

Mike "Sumo" Bransfield, manager of Room 107, was approached by Pompous Pilot to host the CD release party. Sonically experimental original bands like Pompous aren't usually who he books, but he appreciates what the band brings to the table.

"I think the Pompous boys have a good product, man. It's very non-St. Joe," Bransfield says. "It's artistic. It's challenging ... It's on a broader spectrum of thinking man's rock."

While "roads?" is representative of what Pompous Pilot is now, it doesn't represent what Bodenhamer would like to ultimately create.

"I've always tried to just write the perfect song," Bodenhamer says. "I'm far away from being there, but it doesn't stop me from trying."

"roads?" is available for purchase at www.cdbaby.com/cd/pompouspilot.