Vacationer only formed back in May 2011 and here we are a year later with an album of electronic pop in the can and on the shelves. The band is fronted by Kenny Vasoli from pop-punk outfit The Starting Line, who was apparently exposed to new musical possibilities by Body Language members Matthew Young and Grant Wheeler.

Gone is a cuddly slice of electronic popness that is truly inoffensive. It’s a consistently mid-tempo affair with a giant streak of neutrality running through it, but there are occasional moments to cling to, cradle and optimistically believe mark the opening chapter to something greater.

Good as New is like a crackling reboot of The Avalanches, only less interesting, Trip is a soulful croon sucked backwards through pop filters, set in time with a timid hip hop backbeat. But the title track turns the tide of aimlessness with a simpler arrangement, including a memorable guitar riff that imitates the vocal melody. Finally it seems Vacationer have a decent song, and the instrumentation falls into place with a sense of natural occurrence.

The vibe of lonesome melancholy runs into the next track too. Having It All boasts a hypnotic quality via Vasoli’s effective vocal tone that soars overhead of all involved. Yet at the end of the day Vacationer don’t have enough decent songs to justify an album’s worth of music. Too much sounds like it was written on Monday, ready to put down on Tuesday, all within the confines of the digital studio. It feels as if there is a serious lack of depth that no amount of smooth and chilled pop arrangements can disguise. I think I’ll hold out for the next Passion Pit record if you don’t mind.

-Zac Cohen-