Valentin said this is a form of marketing aiming to hook kids on the Poster Children at a young age, similar to the alleged use of cartoon characters by tobacco companies to accomplish the same goal.

The Poster Children hails from Champaign, a town that has always been pregnant with musical talent but has only recently given birth to nationally recognized acts. Bands like Hum, Hardvark and Menthol have recently followed the Poster Children onto the major label bandwagon, turning many an ear to this corn-fed college town.

Valentin said many of these recently signed musicians have come out of an inbred scene. A man known as The Quaker used to work at the Record Swap, a record store that Valentin and other mid-1980s musicians frequented. The Quaker labeled certain records with favorable reviews, leading Valentin and his ilk to post-punk outfits on independent labels including SST and Homestead Records.

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Valentin and others took these influences with them into such bands as Honcho Overload and Bad Flannel, which eventually morphed into Champaign’s present crop.

Will Champaign eclipse Chicago as the center of Illinois music?

Perhaps the Poster Children will help answer this question.

Poster Children plays with Sponge and Big Block at 8 p.m. tonight at Shryock Auditorium.

Tickets are $14 and are available at the Student Center ticket office, Discount Den and Disc Jockey Records.