In February 1997 the band recorded their debut album, "Elsewhere for 8 Minutes" (July 1997), at York St Studios, Auckland with producer Brian Paulson, whose credits included Wilco and Slint. Carroll, who had recently married, quit the band to live on a rural property, but agreed to remain for the sessions, he was replaced on bass guitar by Toby Ralph (ex-Lobtailing). Greg Lawrence of WHAMMO website described the album as "the glorious debut" which "showed, early on in this band's career, the depth of emotional range at the disposal of songwriter and singer Paul Dempsey... is a crucial initial chapter in the story of this important Australian band."