Personally I think Nirvana was one of the last great rock bands. I’m not sure how you define “objectively superior”. As one of my college music teachers defined it, music is the art of affecting people emotionally with sound. So “better” is always subjective to some degree. More complex, technically challenging to play, isn’t necessarily better. Some of the best music is very simple.
That said, I hate the homogenized, compressed pop shlock on the radio these days. It’s not that there aren’t excellent bands and artists out there, it’s just that they don’t become huge stars anymore for the most part. At best they gain a large cult following.
Bighead Todd and the Monsters is a prime example, excellentt band that gets Zero airplay.