Poster Children are an indie rock band from Champaign, Illinois. They were founded in 1987 and have issued eight studio albums. Known for their strong DIY ethic, the band members continue to drive their own tour bus, create their own artwork and T-shirt designs, and operate their own record label. Poster Children were also pioneers in several forms of electronic technology relating to performance art, including enhanced CDs, webcasts, and blogs.
www.posterchildren.com
Poster Children have also released electronic music albums under the name Salaryman.
Rick Valentin and Rose Marshack met in the mid-eighties at the University of Illinois, forming several start-up bands despite Marshack's lack of experience. In 1987 the two met Shannon Drew and the Poster Children were born. They began selling their demo tape on cassette and playing
clubs all over the Midwest. The following year, the band recorded 15 songs that would end up on Flower Plower at the Chicago Recording Company. In 1989, the band met with recording engineer Steve Albini to record five more songs. A vinyl version of Flower Plower was released that year on the Limited Potential label. It was also at this time that Poster Children picked up a second guitarist in to complete the four-piece configuration that they are today.
A major label record deal was inked with Warner Bros. Records subsidiary Reprise Records. (Over the next few albums, Poster Children would be shuffled from imprint to imprint within the Warner organization.) Tracks for Daisychain Reaction were recorded by Steve Albini at the Chicago Recording Company in 1990, but due to financial difficulties at the label, was not released until the following year. (The album included Hum bassist Jeff Dimpsey on guitar.) Marshack and Valentin finally quit their "day jobs" to go on a six-week nation wide tour.
In 1991 Rick's brother, Jim, replaced the guitarist of the time and remains to this day. Tool of the Man was recorded in 1992 at Dreamland Studio in New York with John Herndon (celebrated Tortoise percussionist) on drums. Tool of the Man was also released in the UK on the Creation Records label. The track Clock Street was picked as their only UK single to date. Just Like You (EP) and Junior Citizen followed, with modest but consistent sales. Matt Friscia auditioned for the band in 1993 as a high school student willing to drop out to go on tour, but the band didn't want to contribute to his delinquency, and hired Howie Kantoff instead. Amazingly, Matt was available again in 2001 when the band was searching for its seventh (and current) drummer.
The band was on the second stage for Lollapalooza in 1995. Rick Valentin and Rose Marshack are currently married and hosts of one of the world's longest running podcasts, Radio Zero.
Poster Children usually write their music collectively, leaving Rick to create lyrics after the fact. During the bands formative years, they wrote and recorded with a different drummer for each album. This resulted in a fluctuating style that touched on punk pop, post hardcore, what the band refers to as "post wave", and new wave revival. Their music is made up of angular, overdriven guitar parts, strong basslines, and powerful yet intricate drums. The typical Poster Children song is high-energy and hard, yet melodic, and they often use unusual time signatures. Rick Valentin's lyrics are by turns witty and introspective, often obliquely related to political issues.
Poster Children have not had much commercial success or industry recognition, but critics consistently describe the band as catchy, impressive, and underrated.
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