"I Never Meant It To Be Like This" places Cumulus squarely alongside contemporary acts like Best Coast, The Dum Dum Girls, and Tennis, while reaching back to a not-so-distant golden age of indie pop when good bands had hits, and the knack for wide-readership hooks (Elastica, Veruca Salt, Juliana Hatfield) and loud guitars (Yo La Tengo, My Bloody Valentine’s first album) didn’t preclude a heroic dose of delicacy (Heavenly, the Delgados, Velocity Girl, Tiger Trap). All of which is to say you could almost mistake Cumulus— who appear, let’s face it, pretty adorable—for twee if they didn’t rock so commandingly.