The Karelia

The Karelia were a Scottish band formed by current Franz Ferdinand frontman Alex Kapranos, known at the time as Alex Huntley. The Karelia were:
*Alex Huntley on vocals, guitar, bouzouki and banjolele,
*Glen Thomson on bass guitar and percussion,
*Alan Wylie on trumpet, and
*Thom Falls on drums.

Their only album, "Divorce At High Noon", was released in 1997 under Roadrunner Records to little acclaim. Produced by Bid of The Monochrome Set, it was an off the wall mix of rock and jazz trumpet with unusual lyrics. The final song, "Garavurghty Butes", was completely freestyle with improvised lyrics and musical arrangement. "Divorce At High Noon" featured the following tracks:

#"Divorce At High Noon"
#"Love's A Cliché"
#"Say Try"
#"To His Coy Dietress"
#"Life In A Barrat Garret"
#"Crazy Irritation"
#"Remorse At High Noon"
#"Dancing Along To Nekrotaphion"
#"The Devil Rides Hyndland"
#"The Infinite Duration"
#"Nostalgia"
#"Tension"
#"Bleach Yours"
#"Exaggeration"
#"Garavurghty Butes"

Re-Release

The band did not tour and were unknown outside Glasgow. Very few copies of the album sold (literally hundreds) and the band split in 1997 after releasing singles with the Guided Missile label.

Upon the huge success of Franz Ferdinand fans began to exchange originals of Divorce at High Noon for £50-£100. Because of this, the album was re-released in February 2005. It featured all of the previous album and the following bonus tracks:
*"Divorce At High Noon" (French Version)
*"Love's A Cliché" (Single Version)The re-release also featured the video for "Love's A Cliché"

The band's name derives from the same named Greek tobacco industry "Karelia". It is also a provincial area in Finland.