By day, they’re well-mannered collegiates; by night they’re indie folklore. The Poster Children have been making records for a decade and a half without a real clunker. They’ve weathered grunge, the neo-punk explosion and corporate interest without missing a beat. They may be available used, but they’ve never been in the chart-topping position.

The Poster Children came into existence in 1987, when Rick Valentin (guitar) and Rose Marshack (bass) began writing together at the University of Urbana-Champaign. In 1988, the pair released its first tape, called Toreador Squat. Three years later, the duo produced its first major release, Daisychain Reaction.

Engineered by Steve Albini, who also pulled duty on albums by Nirvana and Bush, PC got a technical facelift sporting tighter production values and a cleaner sound. The album was later released on Reprise records.

It was the track from which the album took its title that made critics stand up and take notice. “If You See Kay” sounds surprisingly modern considering it was penned sometime around 1990. Valentin and Marshack double each other on chunky, rhythmic lines, while Valentine occasionally breaks in with a number of notes for the listener to tell Kay, including, “If you see Kay / Tell her / AAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!”

“Chain Reaction” also maintains an untarnished sound. The song shambles forward with a sense of certainty while Valentin sings about a “Chain reaction.”

The Poster Children followed up Daisychain Reaction with the highly available Tool of the Man, recorded in 1992. The album title made light of the PC’s arrival on the national scene but still sported the same great hooks and tight sound of its predecessor. Future Hum bassist Jeff Dimpsy is featured on guitar but left Poster Children before their following release.

Hardly following the standard path of bands who get a shot at success, Tool of the Man took a step back from Daisychain Reaction and pushed the envelope with less-sweet, but more-substantial songs. Valentin kicked out machine-gun guitar parts and catchy melodies to round out an excellent album.

“Dynamite Chair” keeps to the formula but is punchier and more rhythmically diverse than other tracks. Valentin’s scattered guitar stylings bring a familiar fun to the album.

On the racing “Outside In,” Valentin repeats “Check your pulse / Are you still alive.” Marshack’s frenetic basslines punctuate the guitar and draw the listener closer to the action.

With thick, textural guitar parts on tracks like “Tommyhaus” and “In My Way,” the PC beat the now-absent Dimpsy’s Hum to the punchline 10 years in advance. Unlike Hum, Valentin’s vocals are more expressive and aren’t afraid to play around with tonality.

Next in line were an EP (Just Like You) and another LP (Junior Citizen). Junior Citizen, produced in Madison, marked a slight departure toward more dance-friendly songs. “6×6” got funky with mixed-up beats, and the title track built to what disco could only have hoped to be.

The group’s final Reprise release to date, RTFM (1997), saw a return to tried-and-true methods. “0 for 1” shows a radio-friendly pop attitude that soaks through the album but still manages to tread someplace off the beaten path.

In 1999, The Poster Children returned to the indie fastlane with their album “New World Record,” which was released on SpinArt.

New World Record’s 2000 followup DDD met with favorable critical reviews and a respectable release. Getting back to basics, PC crafted scream-alongs like “This Town Needs a Fire” and “Zero Stars.” Valentin continued his distorted helicopter guitar lines, tighter and more uncompromising than ever. Despite lacking the digital bonuses that graced previous records, DDD is tough to beat for content.

Falsetto backing vocals on “This Town Needs a Fire” are offset by a pressing urgency in the bands instrumentals. “Zero Stars” is a shot at the band’s history and a great rocker. Straightforward, the song has a great melody, pleasurably lilting up and down keys and rolling back and forth between time signatures.

On “Strange Attractors,” the PC show an increasing affinity for effects, with layered guitar parts awash in chorusing and flange. Valentin keeps things interesting by pressing on with a number of independent melodies and counter-melodies.

“Daisy Changed” lays off of the quick-riffing and gives Marshack a more groovy bassline. Valentin’s guitar lines are undistorted and scattered but still manage to offset his vocals impeccably as he muses, “You’re out of date / you’re Dorian Gray / and she’s the painting / in your back room.”

“Silhouette” goes the disco route with a pounding, repetitive bassline and treble-laden guitar. Valentin’s simple vocal line (“I can’t forget / your silhouette”) is built upon time and again by sharp keyboards and moody ambient noise, making the song as dark as it is danceable.

In a sort of summation, the Poster Kids released their first DVD, Zero Stars, in 2001. The disc recreates a number of scenes from their illustrious tour career and also pulls together a number of the band’s live performances and videos. Despite the fact that it was written, directed and filmed by the band and its friends, Zero Stars was snatched up by the independent press and heralded as an innovative and rewarding video.

In a way, it’s amazing that the Poster Children are together after all of these years, as the band has seen a number of members come and go. To date, seven drummers have pulled duty with the band, a record that likely has Spinal Tap sweating. Through it all, they’ve stayed good. There isn’t a clunker in the clutch of records they’ve released, and the future is still bright for the Poster Children.

Tracks, videos and a monthly radio program put together by the band are available for download on www.posterchildren.com