Cities are a youngish North Carolina indie rock trio, and Demo is — wait for it — a three-song demo from the band. But even in this infant state, Cities are far more than just promising, as the clangy and dramatic "Cons, Thieves and Murderers," reminiscent of Mineral or Jim Yoshii Pile-Up, convincingly proves. The final track, "A Theme," sounds very much like Interpol trying on mid-'90s indie rock, and lead-off "Writing on the Wall" is straight-up pensive indie with a dash of Pinback. A full-length release is planned for 2006 — we're definitely looking forward to it.