In 1987 a bunch of school friends from Melbourne, Australia formed a band called Pray TV. Influenced by their favourite bands Joy Division, Dinosaur Jr, Husker Du, Sonic Youth & The Replacements, and uninhibited by a lack of talent, they released their debut single In My Street on Mr Spaceman Records (Cosmic Psychos, Moving Targets). Their second single Spent was released on legendary Aussie label Augogo in 1990. Spent was hailed as one of the finest Aussie releases of the year and the band suddenly found themselves flavour of the week (which back then you could milk for at least a year). Gigs came fast and easy and the band found themselves typecast as the support act of choice for every New Zealand/Flying Nun label band touring Australia including The Chills, The Bats, The Jean-Paul Sartre Experience, Bailter Space and The Straightjacket Fits. Grunge hit the world in 1991/92 and in the international signing frenzy Pray TV signed to US label Radioactive and released an EP followed by a series of shows in NY & LA with label mates Live (stealing their beer at every opportunity). The band enjoyed their 5 milliseconds of fame with drooling raves in Rolling Stone, CMJ, Gavin Report & New York Press shortly before they were dropped from the label. Down but not out, they went on to release two more albums; one produced by produced by the UKs Andy Macpherson (Frank Black, Teenage Fanclub, The Who) and the other by legendary punk band The Saints founder Ed Kuepper. Live gig highlights include supporting the Smashing Pumpkins and at the other extreme, playing country & western versions to no people in bad venues. The band called it a day in 1997 after deciding there must be more to life than rock n roll. (except that there wasn't) Martin Kennedy from the band went on to form atmospheric instrumental band All India Radio and is a member of Steve Kilbey's (The Church / Under the Milky Way) side project Steve Kilbey & Martin Kennedy Present REVIEWS "I've liked everything this band has released so far, but this exceeds my expectations. Strapped to a post-Joy Division bass moan, guitars several kilometres thick chime and swell while drums crash like an epileptic juggler. In the eye of a hurricane a gentle voice whispers of loves regrets. When they surf out in the last couple of minutes, its a mind ride to infinity. One of the best Oz singles of the year." - Juke Magazine 1990 "The whole album is quite brilliant - Australian music really doesnt get any better than this" - Rave Magazine 1997 "Westona could well be their best album. Powerful pop. So beautiful and true. Intelligent. And Ill throw in a Buffalo Tom comparison as well. Not a dud cut" - Inpress "Neater than god" - Melody Maker 1992 "Like Husker Du at their best: melancholic, melodic songs done with rough noisy sound. Simply beautiful" - Ratbeat, Finland "Absolutely thunderous guitar, Aftermath is a pretty marvellous song, alternately quietly powerful passages with more patches of rousing exhilarating axework" - Alternative Press 1994 "Pray TV comes out of nowhere with determined rock shaded by goth influence and big choruses that dwarf the last 10 years of US college rock" - New York Press 1993 "Check out Pray TV..it certainly sounds like Wasteland (Radioactive Records) has a monster on its hands" - Gavin Report 1993 "The bands second album Paydirt is hardly troubled with the narrowed buzzsaw dynamic associated with early Husker Du, preferring a more languid bittersweetness to seep through their wingtipped grunge, a leftover influence from Joy Divisions bass led sobriety, leaving space for Aidan Hallorans doleful, suppressed vocals to metaphorically hang themselves. Paydirt is prime dark introverted mania" - CMJ Report 1993 "Westona is one of the best Australian records released in 1996 - and for all the right reasons too ....Listen to such highlights as the driving opener Casino Royale, Solid Gold Hell, the Died-Pretty-like Don't Waste My Time and the Psychedelic Furs-inspired New York Romance Blues and you'll realize that it doesn't really matter what decade a band's musical references lie in: if it makes you want to sing along, if the tunes stick in your head for days, it must be good pop. One of the best Australian records released in 1996" - DB Magazine "Another of Australia's hidden secrets, Pray TV have been around since the late 80s and have only a handful of lps and singles to show for it. But they've made the most of their opportunities; their recordings have been wonderful without exception, weaving dense and powerful trance-like guitar and occasional keyboards around Aidan Halloran's tired and dusky vocals.The tunes are almost all classic loser songs; losers at love, at bands, at work, at gambling...this band is on a perpetual downer lyrically, but they do a fine job of it. Almost without exception, these tunes build from restrained verses to huge anthemic choruses with walls of Husker Du styled guitar or keyboard flourishes and then ebb back down again for the next verse" - Noise For Heroes Magazine "Good enough title (Paydirt) for this as it's the best thing these guys have done by yards. They said they liked Died Pretty, and they've learnt the idea of making their songs ebb and flow in much the same way. This one has a pack of tracks that tend to start slow, build to maniacal crescendos, and then smolder back down to embers once again. If they don't do that, they start in a burst of flame and then collapse into a slow burn. The moody vocals riding over the top give it a Joy Division-ish sort of feel, and unlike a lot of other bands that use JD as a reference point, Pray TV remember that the predominant backing for Joy Division was guitars and they blaze away in good style with simple but tasty chord changes. Really fine" - Noise For Heroes Magazine "Pay Dirt bubbles along with interesting ideas...take 'Aftermath', a devilishly clever and initially sombre opus in the Joy Division tradition. It builds inexorably until you notice it's gone from moribund to thumping.....their music is an amalgam of the thrashy and languid, often unnervingly subdued - there are a few explosions, and we're never let off the hook" - Rolling Stone 1992