There are a handful of rarefied musical genres that only have room for a couple of artists, and anyone who trafficks in similar material must either "evolve" his sound or risk being tagged an imitator. For example, when you think trip-hop, the name Portishead should appear above your head like a cartoon light bulb. When you hear the word shoegazer, the same thing should happen with the words "My Bloody Valentine" or "Slowdive".

Air Formation hope that you'll soon add their name to the shoegazer roster. They have the spatial, lethargic rhythms, the ebow drones, the spacy keyboard patches, the barely audible vocals, the upper register bass guitar melodies and everything else they need to become the genre's 2004 poster children, but there's one catch: whereas bands like Medicine, Lush, Smashing Pumpkins (remember "Rhinoceros"?) and newish group Voyager One personalized the template with their own unique spin, Air Formation are pleased as punch to hover there without changing a thing.

They do a great job of it, working their textures into a creeping frenzy and spilling out chord after lilting chord, and vocalist Matt Bartram has the perfect croon for the job. However, it's easy to zone out after the first few tracks, and with the exception of "Stay Inside, Feel Everything"'s mildly inflated tempo, you'll soon be hard-pressed to remember any details of the music.

Based on their work here, I imagine that Air Formation are content to live in the shadow of the aforementioned bands. If you're satisfied living under that tree with them (which I picture as a weeping willow on a hill in the countryside), go for it -- but I'll stick with my worn out copies of Isn't Anything and Loveless, thanks.