Frontman Murray Lightburn fancies himself writer and director of the Montreal-based ensemble The Dears. That title is fitting, as each track on No Cities Left seems meticulously planned out, as if written backwards from end to start. Songs like "Expect the Worst/'Cos She's a Tourist" and the radio-friendly "Lost in the Plot" play like short stories, or five-minute films. This intricate construction gives evidence that The Dears have their songwriting skills down, but they need more to stand out in the already crowded field of Canadian dream pop. The band sounds something like The Auteurs fronted by Damon Albarn. Great company indeed, but the derivative nature of the sound keeps No Cities Left from being a breakthrough. The album also runs a bit too long for its own good. All the songs on the album have the chops to stand out, yet only a handful do. Instead, the album delivers a fairly anonymous amalgam of beautifully mapped-out, morbid songs. Experiments run rampant throughout No Cities Left. The dark ironic soul of "Never Destroy Us" sounds nothing like the dramatic duet "22: The Death of All Romance" -- yet both tracks epitomize The Dears' everything-but-the-kitchen-sink spirit. There's a lot that's really great here, but the end result ends is less than the sum of it's parts.