Fan poll: 5 best up-and-coming bands of 2025
At the beginning of the year, we compiled a list of the 25 most exciting rising artists to watch in 2025. Our picks varied across genre, age, and gender, delving into the sounds that we think will define the year (though it wasn’t an easy task). Of course, there are always more burgeoning artists that we can possibly include. With this in mind, we asked our readers to tell us the best up-and-coming bands of 2025. They truly went off, introducing us to dozens of new faces and songs that we’ll be spinning for the next few weeks. Find the top fan picks ranked below.
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5. Panther Revival
Across a couple of captivating full-lengths and an EP, Panther Revival have never compromised. The Greenville, Texas-based punk trio are loud about the issues that matter most, melding social consciousness with an intensive sound. In fact, they channel their rage and resolve at every turn — in their video for “Roll for Initiative,” they tell the story of Ralph Yarl, a Black teenager who was shot for merely ringing a doorbell. Calling to mind Body Count, Bad Religion, and Suicidal Tendencies, it’s no wonder that our readers named them one of the brightest up-and-coming bands of the year.
4. FOXCULT
FOXCULT offer nostalgia for a time when post-hardcore, shoegaze, and hardcore dominated the mainstream. But that doesn’t mean the band are rooted in the past. Their 2023 EP THE INDIGO FAULT balances sci-fi elements overtop post-hardcore density, following the narrator, Eden, and her journey to Neptune, whereas their 2024 EP THE AMETHYST DRIFT expands the lore even further. Beyond that, the band offer a safe space for the queer community. “We are openly trans and fiercely queer, and our music is representative of that,” they said upon signing to Adventure Cat Records in 2023. “We have a story that we want to tell, to an amazing and diverse group of people who are often underrepresented.”
3. Arrows in Action
Springing out of Gainesville, Florida, Arrows in Action are next up. The band — comprising singer/guitarist Victor Viramontes-Pattison, guitarist Matthew Fowler, and drummer Jesse Frimmel — found each other while attending University of Florida, rising up from the underground and into online celebrity. They’re still riding the high of their 2023 debut album, Built To Last, which documents a crucial period of self-discovery (or, more specifically, the messiness of living through your 20s). That time of your life can be uncomfortable and chaotic, rife with friendship breakups, moving away from home, and becoming someone new. Through it all, their signature strain of poppy alt-rock becomes a center of gravity, pulling you along from track to track.
2. Cherie Amour
Cherie Amour — whose name translates to “my darling love” and comes from a Stevie Wonder song — evolved the pop-punk framework of their previous band, One Life To Lead, into the worlds of R&B, pop, and emo. “I’m happy to be in a band that is so open-minded about experimenting and trying new ideas — reaching outside of our comfort zone,” Casey Reid told us of the shift in 2021. While their early songs “Burn” and “Orlando” set them in motion, they’ve only gotten more versatile in the ensuing years. Look to their latest single, “Release Me,” which draws from the ’90s and early 2000s to create an addictive sound.
1. Life in Idle
The members of Life in Idle were only teenagers when they formed the band in their hometown of Kettering, Ohio, initially drawing influence from blink-182 and Green Day songs. Since then, the band have moved beyond those pop-punk cornerstones, determined to take their music to a deeper level. That meant tapping Hot Mulligan’s Chris Freeman and Gary Cioni (Free Throw, Grayscale) to co-produce their sophomore album, Continuity Error(s), in 2023. Their hard work paid off, revealing greater maturity and depth as they expanded into more personal lyricism and open-based tuning to drive their messages home.
