finetune artist: Poster Children

Formed in 1987 in Champaign, Illinois, USA by Rick Valentin (guitar, vocals) and Rose Marshack (bass, vocals). Combining influences drawn from the British punk scene of the late 70s (notably the Buzzcocks) and the US hardcore explosion of the early 80s (Hsker D), their raw, bustling sound was first unveiled on a self-released cassette album in 1988 which documented their live set. By the following year they had found a more permanent home at Limited Potential Records, where Flower Power became the first of two albums to be produced by Chicago alumnus Steve Albini (with Iain Burgess). Further refining their sound to what the band themselves term "Post-Wave" (i.e., "after punk rock made the Top 10'), by the advent of Daisy Chain Reaction Valentin and Marshack had been joined by the former's brother Jim and were beginning to pick up a number of high-profile fans, including Screaming Trees, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Soul Asylum, Jesus Lizard and Public Enemy, with all of whom Poster Children toured at some stage. Tool Of The Man, produced by Mike McMackin, saw them move to a major label, Sire Records, while they also recorded singles for underground labels including Clawfist and Sub Pop Records. The problematic drummer's slot had by this point been filled by Howie Kantoff. Junior Citizen was recorded at Smart Studios in Madison, Wisconsin, with production assistance from Brian Anderson, and promised a significant commercial breakthrough in the wake of mainstream success for musically similar bands such as Green Day and Offspring. Their next release, 1997's RTFM, proved to be the band's last for a major label. New World Record was recorded and produced by the band themselves in their own Studio Tedium, and was one of the first albums to be made available in MP3 format. Kantoff left the band following the release of 2000"s DDD.

Listen to Poster Children at Finetune.

(2000) DDD

Perfect Product
Daisy Changed
Strange Attractors
Silhouette
Elf