ABSTRACT
When college rock favorites Nirvana and their front man Kurt Cobain (1967-1994) were thrust into the spotlight in 1991 on the strength of their major label debut Nevermind, the media quickly heralded them as the forerunners of a new alternative rock movement. While alternative came to encompass a number of styles-everything from Nine Inch Nails’ industrial rock to Teenage Fanclub’s power pop-its most popular manifestation was undoubtedly that of grunge. As a label, the term “grunge” seemed to fit perfectly the dirty, distorted guitars, metallic riffs, and hoarse, shouted vocals of groups like Pearl Jam, Mudhoney, and others. More than that, though, grunge became attached to a regional scene (Seattle), a fashion style, and, as Sarah Ferguson points out in her article for the Utne Reader, an attitude of alienation and victimization, crystallized in songs like “Smells Like Teen Spirit” and “Jeremy” and mirrored in the music’s audience. Ferguson questions the reasons and social significance behind grunge’s “politics of damage.” If grunge is to be taken seriously as an authentic expression of the times, she argues, then it needs to be considered along lines of race, class, gender, and the place of youth within the American family.
