Small Cities

There's only one problem with the Small Cities's debut EP: It's four tracks long. The self-recorded, self-titled disc plays like a dream, with intricate pop structures reminiscent of a more moody Shins or slightly less moody Kid Dakota. Even the wavers in drummer David Osborn's voice seem perfectly timed to express a particular emotion: On closing track "I'm Gone," a slow-burning, blistering kiss-off, Osborn's delivery on the line "There's a whole in my heart where you stand" is painstakingly sincere. "What to do with the space in the bed, and everything that went unsaid?" The band responds in turn with echoing harmonies and a hair-raising crescendo that falls off into silence—the silence at the end of a disc that is too short and leaves the listener clamoring for more. The Small Cities celebrate the release of their EP with Black-Eyed Snakes, Mighty Fairly, and Fitzgerald. 21+.
Fri., May 23, 9 p.m., 2008