When LCD Soundsystem released ‘Losing My Edge’ in 2002, they couldn’t have possibly predicted that a line towards the end of the song would end up defining the ebb and flow of music for the decade to follow.

“I hear that you and your band have sold your guitars and bought turntables,” James Murphy quipped. “I hear that you and your band have sold your turntables and bought guitars.” At the time, a boom of indie rock was about to hit — particularly over in the UK, where a new band was being prophesied as the future of rock and roll by the NME week in and week out.

By the end of the decade, though, the boom had inevitably gone bust. It’s remarkable to think, in 2018, that any bands from that era beyond the obvious touchstones still had any gas left in the tank. Yet, here we are — looking back on the first quarter of the calendar year, no less than five different indie bands of the era put out brand-new studio albums.

There’s a lot of questions that arise from observing this — namely, what’s keeping them going? Who’s going to see them in 2018? Most importantly, is their new stuff worth giving the time of day? Strap on your stripey scarves — we’re going in on five 2018 albums from 2000s indie bands.

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Franz Ferdinand – Always Ascending

Hometown: Glasgow, Scotland.

You Know Them From: FIFA soundtracks, commercials and every major festival around the middle of the 2000s. ‘Take Me Out’ is one of the defining singles of the 21st century, while other hits such as ‘Do You Want To’ and ‘This Fire’ have done remarkably well for themselves too.

Who Survived: Vocalist Alex Kapranos, bassist Bob Hardy and drummer Paul Thompson. They’ve been joined by newcomers Dino Bardo (guitar) and Julian Corrie (keyboards) for their latest LP.

What They’ve Been Up To: Since the one-two smash of 2004’s Franz Ferdinand and 2005’s You Could Have It So Much Better, the Glaswegian band have made diminishing returns. Experimental 2009 LP Tonight was well-intentioned but misguided; while 2013’s Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action felt and sounded like a B-sides compilation.

The fact their 2015 collaboration with Sparks was shortened to FFS says it all — for fuck’s sake, indeed. This leads us to Always Ascending, their first LP as a five-piece and first to not feature founding guitarist Nick McCarthy.

Is It Any Good? Always Ascending is certainly a misnomer — perhaps ‘Stuck in a Loop’ would be a more reflective name. Of all the elements that made up Franz Ferdinand’s sound to begin with, it’s anyone’s guess why they’ve pursued the rabbit hole of dance-infused indie disco. There’s no sex and no charisma to these songs, even when they’re desperately yearning for it.

It also doesn’t help that Alex Kapranos’ particular schtick of see-what- I-did-there clever and moaning faux-seduction runs especially thin at the age of 46. Time has proven Franz to be a band that really should have quit while they were ahead.

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The Fratellis – In Your Own Sweet Time

Hometown: Glasgow, Scotland.

You Know Them From: Any and every football match from 2006 onwards. Their inescapable hit ‘Chelsea Dagger’ still riles up all crowds from all codes of sport, and it allowed them to coast on a wave of NME hype at a time when that absolutely meant something.

Who Survived: All three members — but just barely. Guitarist/vocalist John Lawler, bassist Barry Wallace and Gordon McRory are respectively better known by their Ramones-esque stage names — Jon Fratelli, Barry Fratelli and Mince Fratelli.

What They’ve Been Up To: After almost imploding in 2007, The Fratellis released Here We Stand the following year to a comparatively-small reception. It did well, but gold sales in the UK as opposed to Costello Music’s triple platinum was certainly a bruise to the ego.

The band split in 2009, returning some three years later for a one-off charity gig. This would later lead to a permanent return, with two albums — 2013’s We Need Medicine and 2015’s Eyes Wide, Tongue Tied — charting well in Scotland and the UK but not so much anywhere else. In Your Own Sweet Time marks the fifth LP from the band overall.

Is It Any Good? With nothing to prove and nothing to lose, The Fratellis are free to be whatever kind of band they want to be. Rousing indie-punks, early-60s day-trippers, boozy crooners… anything goes on In Your Own Sweet Time. Sure, that gives the tracklist a little inconsistency, but it’s a minor quarrel when one considers how much fun it sounds like the three of them are having.

Sweet Time is a fun record — and, in all honesty, may be their best record since Costello Music. It’s free-wheeling, it’s adventurous, it’s cheeky and charming. Leave your ‘Chelsea Dagger’ at the door and enjoy.

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Editors – Violence

Hometown: Birmingham, England.

You Know Them From: Your perennially-glum friend’s iPod Classic — and, in a matter of great contrast, your FIFA-playing mates. ‘Munich’ and ‘Smokers Outside the Hospital Doors’ were both top 10 hits in their native UK, with their respective albums (2005’s The Back Room and 2007’s An End Has a Start) also topping the charts there.

Who Survived: Original guitarist Chris Urbanowicz left in 2011. Since 2012, frontman Tom Smith, bassist/keyboardist Russell Leetch and drummer Ed Lay have been joined by guitarist Justin Lockley and keyboardist/guitarist Elliott Williams.

What They’ve Been Up To: A fair bit for a band you don’t hear all that much about these days. They’ve never taken a fully-fledged hiatus and have seemingly never broken out of the write/record/tour cycle for an extended period of time. With Violence, Editors are up to album number six.

Is It Any Good? Violence is a major surprise package. Shunning the more robust, post-punk leanings of their earlier work, Editors have recalibrated and taken their sound in a more electronic, almost krautrock direction.

It’s worked wonders for Tom Smith’s baritone, which was always a fascinating cocktail of Nick Cave, Ian Curtis and Paul Banks. Here, it sounds even more commanding — and, dare it be said, seductive.

The outlook is still bleak in Editors’ world. Fair enough; they were never going to write a Partridge Family song. Even still, there’s a new sheen to their sound — a neon tinge, if you will.

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Datarock – Face the Brutality

Hometown: Bergen, Norway.

You Know Them From: The dance-punk movement from the early-to-mid 2000s. Their back-to-back indie hits ‘Computer Camp Love’ and ‘Fa Fa Fa.’ That’s not even mentioning their signature red tracksuits.

Who Survived: The band held a solid line-up until 2010, in which co-frontman and bassist Ketil Mosnes exited the fold. Vocalist/guitarist Frederik Saroea is the sole remaining original member. He’s joined by saxophonist Kjetil Møster, drummer Adrian Meehan and bassist Thomas Larssen.

What They’ve Been Up To: A lot of people have come and gone from Datarock since it started in 2000, both in the live arena and as official members. They were last seen in 2015 for their ambitious Datarock: The Musical project, which saw the release of the soundtrack and an ensemble of some 87 performers being involved.

Face the Brutality marks a return to the traditional album format, and marks their first in nine years.

Is It Any Good? Put it this way: Face the Brutality is better than it has any right to be given the circumstances. It’s a valiant attempt to continue on in the same vein as their fun-loving early days, still wanting to prove they’ve learned a thing or two in the years they’ve been away.

That being said, not nearly enough of the album lands the way they want it to, and what’s meant to be a continuation of their heyday feels like a milquetoast retread at best and flat-out uninspired at worst. Those red tracksuits could absolutely do with a wash by now.

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The Wombats – Beautiful People Will Ruin Your Life

Hometown: Liverpool, England.

You Know Them From: Playing festivals in Australia, mostly. Aside from that, they’re best known for dancing to Joy Division, killing the director, jumping into the fog and going back to that bar in Tokyo.

Who Survived: The whole Wombat family. The Wombats have held the same line-up for 15 years — guitarist Matt Murphy, bassist Tord Øverland Knudsen and drummer Dan Haggis.

What They’ve Been Up To: Playing festivals in Australia, mostly. For real, though, The Wombats are lifelong devotees to touring — the momentum of their 2007 debut A Guide to Love, Loss and Desperation saw them on the road for nearly three years straight, with no signs of slowing down along the way.

This might explain why, after 15 years in the game, they’re only up to album number four with Beautiful People Will Ruin Your Life.

Is It Any Good? It’s strange to think of a band like The Wombats, who seemingly drowned in the fountain of youth, making an album that could be considered contextually mature. That’s ultimately where Beautiful People ends up — and how appealing that concept sounds to you will entirely dictate whether or not it’s something you wish to pursue actively.

A lot of songs on the album sound like they’re screaming out for that extra oomph — particularly lead single ‘Lemon to a Knife Fight’. They’re good songs, but they lack the punch of the great songs they’ve made over the years.

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David James Young is a writer, a podcaster and Australia’s foremost Maxïmo Park apologist. Tweet him your favourite 2000s indie bangers: @DJYwrites.