Guitarist and co-founder of dedicated post-punk revivalists Merchandise, David Vassalotti has a more eclectic output as a solo artist, with material ranging from brash noise experiments to wistful singer/songwriter fare. After a more turbulent third solo set (2016's Broken Rope), he committed to melancholy, partly Smiths-influenced songs on 2019's Guitar Dream. A multi-instrumental who excels at guitar, Vassalotti formed Merchandise in 2008 in Tampa, Florida with vocalist/multi-instrumentalist Carson Cox and bassist Patrick Brady. Their fuzz-heavy debut, (Strange Songs) in the Dark, arrived in 2010. In 2011, Vassalotti released his first solo album, an angsty mix called Book of Ghosts, via Vinyl Rites (under the abbreviated name D. Vassalotti). His band's sophomore LP, Children of Desire, arrived in 2012, and he again followed up with a solo release a year later; Night-People Records issued the Live in Infinity EP in 2013. Merchandise delivered After the End in 2014, and its guitarist prepared the entirely D.I.Y. full-length Broken Rope for release via Hidden Eye and Wharf Cat Records in early 2016. It assimilated electronic noise, melodic guitar pop, a dog, and European poetry and history into its expansive lo-fi. For 2019's Guitar Dream, he concentrated on more structured songcraft without entirely abandoning his trademark atmosphere and distortion. ~ Marcy Donelson, Rovi