Where is the teen spirit? That is the question I have been asking myself lately – especially since it has been seven years (damn, I feel old now) since a sudden void ripped apart the promise of alternative rock.

That’s right, it has been seven years since Kurt Cobain’s shattered body was found lying next to the shotgun that allowed him to end his life, and effectively, alternative music.

Sure, the huge music industry joke known as the alternative genre thrives on and there are still so-called alternative radio stations, although they are a dying breed.

But where is the teen spirit? As clich‚ as it sounds to invoke the title of the song that brought flannel, mosh pits and grunge to millions of kids starving for something that wasn’t Warrant, Winger or Whitesnake.

Kurt (along with Chris Novaselic and Dave Grohl) brought a passion to music that was more than just an excuse to rock out or kick someone’s ass in the mosh pit.

Nirvana was angry in a way that is completely unlike the macho, misogynistic rage of current bands such as Linkin Park, Godsmack and Crazy Town. Kurt screamed and an entire generation screamed along with him.

Godsmack growls and beefy, shirtless, sweaty ogres molest crowd-surfing girls, scream for women to take off their shirts and kick the shit out of each other and anyone who gets in their way.

Quite a different show from the days when Kurt, Chris and Dave would don flower print dresses just to mess with their more homophobic fans.

Now, homophobia seems to be back in style, and if Godsmack frontman Sully Erna tried wearing a dress, a cry of “faggot” would erupt from the mosh pit and the self-destructive violence and degradation of women would continue.

And where’s the teen spirit in that? Perhaps what I miss most about that skinny, blond-hair-in-his-eyes spokesman for a generation is his honest, non-posturing emotion that no musician has even approached since.

I don’t mean to complain so much about the current state of music – I do that enough already. But it is hard not to feel crestfallen after popping in a copy of the gorgeous, raw “In Utero” (one of Spin magazines most essential punk albums) or the plaintive, lo-fi “Unplugged in New York” (one the best albums of all time).

It is a shame that stations such as Lazer 103.3 will play tracks off the multi-platinum “Nevermind” along with Crazy Town, Godsmack and Limp Bizkit, redefining them as a “hard rock” band. These are bands that Kurt would have abhorred – his hatred for cock rock even led to personal disillusionment with music and fear that Nirvana was becoming what Kurt loathed.

Radio station executives have taken Kurt’s music and re-classified it simply to fit their purpose, their tag of what is popular now. Both Lazer (pure rock) and Channel Q (new music revolution) will play Nirvana and Limp Bizkit. Since when is Limp Bizkit anything near alternative? Maybe the MTV alternative to the Backstreet Boys.

There is definitely no teen spirit in Limp Bizkit. No matter how much Fred Durst rips off The Who, rapping about his “g-g-g-generation,” he is by no means a role model for today’s music fans. And whose generation is Fred talking about anyway? Certainly not mine or any of his 13-year-old fans.

And now, it’s been seven years since Kurt’s death, nearly 10 years since the greatest popular record of the `90s, and it is time for some musician, some band, to step up and recapture the teen spirit. Kids need to be inspired to pick up a guitar and rock, not encouraged to rage and break stuff.

The music industry seems to run in 10-year cycles – does the current Korn/Limp Bizkit-spawned rock scene remind anyone else of the Motley Crue/Guns N’ Roses era of spandex and hairspray? So maybe, just maybe, 2001 could bring the equivalent of Nirvana’s major label debut.

I have to hope that teen spirit – Kurt’s spirit – recaptures radio, television and the national consciousness.

There is an entire generation of new music fans that wasn’t around to see the “Smells Like Teen Spirit” video in heavy rotation. And even if they don’t know it, they are waiting.

Here we are now, entertain us.

Jon Dahlager is a sophomore in journalism and mass communication and sociology from Cottage Grove, Minn. He is an assistant arts and entertainment editor of the Daily.