When some kids graduate from high school, their parents reward them with a car or a month off backpacking across Europe.

Aaron Rossetto wanted a four-track recorder.

Aaron Rossetto is the songwriter, performer and producer behind Austin, Texas' Ask For Joy, whose layers of shimmering guitars, angelic vocals and expansive harmonies awash in reverb recall at once the fuzzy shoegaze of Slowdive and My Bloody Valentine, the Phil Spector crossed with post-punk noise and feedback sound of The Jesus and Mary Chain, and the poppy, harmonic sensibilities of the Beach Boys. The music is characterised by a fusion of the rawness of a strongly DIY esthetic with rich, atmospheric waves of instrumentation supporting a textured and dense dream pop sound.

Ask For Joy has released three albums on the Infinitely Recursive Records imprint: Swoon EP (2005), Endless Space Unfurled EP (2007), and Life In A Coma (2009), as well as 'Fentanyl', the first single from Keep The Euphoria Down, expected late 2010-early 2011.

The title track of four-song EP Swoon, released to MySpace in 2005, was ranked #19 among Auralgasms.com's 50 Most Blissful Songs of 2008. Swoon was followed by 2007's Endless Space Unfurled EP, with five of American poet Sara Teasdale's poems set to Ask For Joy's blissful soundscapes. Incorporating everything from the pedal steel celestial ascension of 'Peace' to the heavily overdriven open guitar drones that swirl through 'Alone', the album gives a strong, sympathetic voice to Teasdale's soaringly lyrical, yet often somber work. Life In A Coma, Ask For Joy's third EP, sees a continuation of the same dense, dreamy tone of the last two albums, but with a distinctly sharper, more pop-oriented focus. From the fuzzy, enveloping guitar shimmer of 'Summercrush' and 'Heaven In You' to the gospel-tinged hand claps, foot stamps and background choir of 'Glory Glory', the thread that runs through the whole album is crystalline vocals hovering overtop rich, atmospheric pop songs infused with waves of sound. It might be My Bloody Valentine fronted by Art Garfunkel.

Ask For Joy embodies the excitement and the true essence of the do-it-yourself spirit of independent music: taking matters into one's own hands and recording and producing material that realizes and remains faithful to the artist's vision, unencumbered by the demands of a record label, radio stations or pop charts, and engaging and energizing fans who are long for music that is unique, distinct, genuine and speaks to them. The shoegaze sound that electrified late 80s-early 90s college and alternative radio is back in the ascendancy, and Ask For Joy's music aims to capture that same wonder and excitement and present a modern, personal take on it to new audiences.

Endless Space Unfurled, Life In A Coma and 'Fentanyl' are available through CD Baby as well as digitally via several online services including Apple's iTunes Music Store, Amazon, Rhapsody, Napster, eMusic and LastFM.