Overrated / Underrated

Kudos to the Minneapolis Institute of Art for democratizing art, but the museum's highly popular "Foot in the Door" exhibit does for the art world what Florida did for presidential elections. Maybe not everybody deserves to have his or her say. The rooms full of 1-foot-square works by mostly amateur visionaries reminded me of a flea market filled with velvet Elvises, paint-by-number pieces and wall ornaments from touristy Mexican restaurants. There were some gems amid the clutter, but every time I saw something I liked, my eyes were instead drawn to some gaudy masterturd the way rubberneckers are drawn to looking at car wrecks.

Aside from when Kurt Cobain heavily incorporated them into Nirvana's "MTV Unplugged," the Meat Puppets have never really gotten their due as indie-rock innovators and musical geniuses. I was reminded of their talent when frontman Curt Kirkwood shredded his guitar through "When My Baby's Beside Me" during the Alex Chilton tribute at South by Southwest. I'm reminded of the Puppets' pioneering imprint every time I hear modern psychedelic twangers such as Blitzen Trapper, Modest Mouse and M. Ward. With his left-for-dead brother Cris by his side again, Kirkwood brings the reborn Puppets to Minneapolis Friday at the 400 Bar.