Reviewed by Peter John Willoughby

The story behind the band's name is interesting. They were originally called Last Flight Out (LFO) as two of the members were on the last flight out of LA when the World Trade Centre was hit by terrorists. Later it was changed to the phonetic spelling, El-eph-o. The band were formed in Auckland, New Zealand in 2001 by American-born singer Connery Faire who had once fronted a band named after her which had a good-ish album 'The Contrasts Of Life' reviewed by Cross Rhythms some years back. With Connery and Spider aka Mark Brady (vocals/rhythm guitar) were joined by Jamie Wipiiti (lead guitar), Joe Teinakore (drums) and Ralph Broadley (bass) for the release of this, their debut, in May 2008. They have a straight-forward, unapologetic rock sound that could be compared to Foreigner or a lighter version of Nickelback. "Famous" is defined by a thumping bassline, classic rock hooks and dramatic vocals by Spider. This is the strongest track and you can almost see them swaggering across the stage as they perform their '80s inspired rock. Connery is a great female vocalist and brings a smouldering intensity to "Alive" and "Kill Me With Kindness". They depart from the rock theme in the Nirvana-esque grunge "Not Your Time". In "Realms" they alternate jazz guitar with hard rock riffing. On a side note, in 2010 Connery became the pastor of Hilltop Ministries. Connery said "Tithes are requested to go to the homeless and needy, since there will be no overhead this way, and I in no way want to get rich of other people's earnings. I think this is closer to the way Jesus' ministries worked." It's rather refreshing to hear that.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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