For a band that often seemed be on the verge of a commercial breakthrough,Pavementmade all the right moves– they just did them in the wrong order. With its crystalline production (courtesy of R.E.M. architect Mitch Easter and Bryce Goggin) and more refined songcraft, Pavement’s 1997 releaseBrighten the Cornerswas the logical follow-up to 1994’s indie hitCrooked Rain, Crooked Rain. But of course, that move from A to B took a tangential turn back to Z with 1995’s notoriously slapdashWowee Zowee, an album beloved by the band’s diehard fans, but one that effectively squandered any crossover potentialCrooked Rainmight have built up (and which would’ve made a lot more sense asCrooked Rain‘spredecessor than su