Noah Stitelman called his band Neighbors because his neighbors “are awesome” and named the album Failure because he didn’t like his previous album (which he says he rush-released). This time, he took nearly a year to write and record the album himself; then he rerecorded it and rerecorded it again. Then, and only then, did he trek to Philadelphia to work with Kyle “Slick” Johnson (Modest Mouse, The Hives). Together, they spent a month getting final takes that Stitelman could live with. The big question remains whether or not “Long Time Gone” is supposed to sound like a lower-fi version of Don Henley’s “The Boys of Summer.” Intentional or not, the song has enough meat to stand alone. Pretty, cascading synths are the primary weapon throughout Failure. Remove them and it’d be a lonely mix of vocals and mechanical beats (plus rock-star guitars during the ‘80s-influenced “Wild Enough”). This austerity lets the songcraft poke through on “Spacing Out,” “Jenny Jones," and “Epic Meltdown,” which, thankfully, is neither epic nor a meltdown but a bouncy, charming pop song.