Grounds for Divorce

Grounds for Divorce was the first single from The Seldom Seen Kid, released on 10 March 2008 as the band's first release on Fiction. It reached 19 in the UK. It opens with Garvey singing that he has been working on a cocktail called grounds for divorce, a line Uncut thought among the best openers in pop for years. He told Uncut it was written during an unhappy relationship and describes being sick and tired of everything around you and wanting to get out. Pitchfork called it a tragic drinking song and bluesy in the get-the-Led-out sense.

Mark Potter said the riff was one he played every time he picked up a guitar, and that for ten years the others never reacted to it. Garvey sings and plays percussion, Craig Potter plays piano and synthesizer, Pete Turner plays bass and Richard Jupp plays drums. The single won the Ivor Novello for Best Contemporary Song on 21 May 2009. It appeared in an advertisement for Left 4 Dead, in the trailer for Burn After Reading, and in an instrumental version on Top Gear. The single's B-sides included Hotel Istanbul, Our Little Boat and A Regret. Dan Sully directed the video.