Bands to Watch 2025
Discover your next favorite bands in Sleep Theory, Honey Revenge, The Home Team, Designer Disguise and Melrose Avenue. These bands had big 2024s with big tours, new singles and top five singles. They have only continued to build on that success in 2025.
Cullen Moore of Sleep Theory's soulful voice croons over crunchy guitars from guitarist Daniel Pruitt and the undercurrent of bass from Paolo Vergara on 2024 single “Stuck in My Head”. It's a wonderful combination. From the impassioned “Nooo!” in the intro to the song to the intense instrumentation from Daniel and Ben Pruitt, this song will take up residence in your head. It’s become one of this writer’s favorite songs.
Then you have “Paralyzed”, also a 2024 single. A moody atmosphere comes in and Moore says “shh” and the instrumentation comes crashing in. Like new single “Static”, it talks about mental health: Paralyzed/from the fear inside/but the pain is only temporary/So why are all these pages tearing/Terrified Of what you hide behind/The weight of all the hurt you carry/The memories you try to bury now…
“Static” starts with a beat and builds until there’s a screamed “everything is just so LOUD!” As previously mentioned, the song talks about mental health: Lost in the noise and I can’t turn it off/The chaos spreads and it’s getting louder/I run to escape but it’s never enough/It keeps chasing me and it’s erasing me again…” It’s also the band’s “biggest release to date”, according the band’s Facebook Reel. It has already amassed over four million plays since they released it in February.
2023 single “Fallout” became a top five single and had regular rotation on SiriusXM’s Octane. It cruises in with an urgent guitar from Daniel Pruitt and drums from Ben Pruitt. The screams and R&B voice from Moore tie together in the best combination. The band performed “Fallout” at SiriusXM’s Octane studios in June of 2024.
Then you have “Gone or Staying”, also a 2023 release, which is the song that got this writer into Sleep Theory. From the heartbreaking ache in Moore's voice that demands to be listened to to the metal riff that comes in after 23 seconds to the moody bass, this one’ll find a place on your playlist. There’s also a phenomenal video of the band doing an acoustic version of the song in the SiriusXM Octane studios.
Moore, a retired U.S. Army veteran, formed the band in 2019 to “fuse his love of hard rock, funk, and R & B…”, according to the band’s bio on Epitaph Records. Sleep Theory’s first single, “Another Way”, hit 500,000 views on TikTok within 36 hours of its release. That was in January of 2023 and by July of that year, the Memphis band signed to Epitaph Records. Sleep Theory has had two number ones on SiriusXM Octane and has toured with Shinedown, Saint Asonia, Set It Off, and Beartooth. They have also been a part of Louder Than Life, Shiprocked, and Welcome to Rockville (and are playing this May!) They’re releasing their debut album, “Afterglow”, on May 16 and are currently touring. They're also going to be supporting Falling in Reverse in Europe.
Listening to Honey Revenge is like eating your favorite sweet: it has layers. You get that initial sweetness, then it goes onto a smooth level, and finishes as something you want again. They have dance-y music on top of personal lyrics that are surely relatable.
Honey Revenge is a pop rock band from Los Angeles that consists of guitarist Donny Lloyd and lead singer Devin Papadol. Papadol, who’s also featured on Broadside’s “Lucid”, off 2023’s “Hotel Bleu”, was about to give up on the music industry until she met Lloyd. According to Kerrang!, “I was feeling defeated by the dynamic of being in a band, self-funding everything and just wondering if it was ever going to work out. That feeling bleeds through into several tracks like our singles Airhead and Rerun.”
Magic and recognition happened when they got together and it’s turned into a project that’s yielded spots on the 30th anniversary of the Vans Warped Tour this summer/November, an opener spot with Australian rock band Slowly Slowly in April, and a headlining tour starting in May. They also played on the Summer School tour in July of 2024, opened for Stand Atlantic on a UK/EU tour that finished on September 29 of 2024 and played Dirty Fest, LA’s newest and “most insane alternative fest”, according to the venue’s website, in November of 2024. They put on a fun, well-imagined live show and are performing at the 30th anniversary of the Vans Warped Tour this summer and November.
An expanded edition of their lauded debut album “Retrovision” landed in August of 2024 and included three new tracks: “Medicine”, “Recipe for Disaster”, “Are You Impressed (Reimagined)”, and “Distracted (Reimagined)”.
"Airhead", the catchy but self-deprecating single, pulls no punches with its opening: Damn, I’m such an airhead/no strength in my spine/with the best intentions/I can’t make it right. As it sounds, it’s a song where Papadol is beating herself up about how she’s spineless and that her mouth gets her in trouble, something a lot of people can relate to. It’s also their most streamed single on Spotify. The guitar riffs from Lloyd are spectacular and will live in your head for days (but you won’t mind a bit).
A majority of the songs are in that vein but are also songs you can also groove to. Like in “Seeing Negative (Disappointment)”. Papadol says, “Can't forget and I never will/
Cancel it with overkill...the negative is all I see, yeah yeah/I'm only disappointing me…” all to an upbeat drum and guitar.
The Home Team, a heavy pop band from Seattle, is also a rising star. They released their debut album “Better Off” in 2018 and have opened for the likes of Don Broco, Broadside, Senses Fail and Real Friends. Their most recent album, “The Crucible of Life” was released in July of 2024, spawning their top three songs on Spotify: “Loud”, “Brag” and “Walk This World With Me”. They also have a unique and hard rocking song called “Hell” that starts off with a dirty intro and then the most epic of high notes from lead singer Brian Butcher, who says the song title. Like a couple of their songs, it’s about a relationship gone sour, but it’s a unique spin due to Butcher’s confident, powerful vocals and the instrumentation that hits hard. They also have songs about the good parts of the relationship: “Loud” and “Walk This World With Me”. The band also played on the Summer School Tour in 2024. Butcher landed the gig to fill Issues’ vocalist spot during the band’s 2024 set of goodbye shows in Atlanta. The Home Team is starting a headlining tour in May and they’re playing on the 30th anniversary of the Vans Warped Tour this summer and November as well.
Designer Disguise, a metalcore band from Seattle, uses social media to their advantage. They use Facebook Reels to promote their songs, which range from heavy (“Outta My Face”) to a heavy song with horns in it (“Quit You”) to heartbroken rock in new release “Better Off Alone” to metalcore versions of crunk/rap songs (“Get Low” is notable). Their cover of “Get Low” is what got this writer to check out the band. For anyone who’s ever listened to “Get Low”, to hear a totally serious, almost falsetto, voice say “til the sweat drops down my BALLS” is amazing and amusing. Then “Quit You” opens with a video game starting sound, deep guitars and the unexpected addition of prominent sax. They released their first EP, “Hearts and Minds”, in 2015, then their debut album, “Surface”, two years later. They spaced out the time with their sophomore album, as “[sic] Elswaer” came out in 2023 and released a collection of covers called “WOW, That’s What I Call Metalcore, Vol. 1” in 2024.
Melrose Avenue is an Australian pop metalcore band that also uses social media to their advantage. Lead singer Vlado Saric makes videos and reacts to things like “Try Not to Sing” and gets really into it and it’s fun to watch. They also use Instagram to make videos with their own music.
Newest release, “Body Bag”, starts with a synth-y opening and goes into blasting guitars and drums and screams from guitarist/vocalist Shawn Mayer. Then Saric’s vocals come in and tie everything together—until Mitchell Elliot turns in a truly face-melting guitar solo. They have three other standout songs (though all their songs are good!), “Suffering”, “Fool and the Beggar” and “Through Hell”, all 2024 singles. “Suffering” starts with an attention-grabbing guitar intro and then Saric’s vocals soar and really sell the lyrics. “Fool and the Beggar” made it to SiriusXM’s Octane’s Test Drive. It starts with a deep guitar line and then powerful drums that lay the foundation for Saric’s controlled vocals. Mayer’s screams go perfectly during and before the breakdown.
“Through Hell” is just what it sounds like. It starts off slower than usual for Melrose Avenue but goes into a hard rock direction. It’s a great song to jam to in hard times. The lyrics go: I've been through hell if you can't tell/I'll never be good enough for me/And none of my friends know what goes in my head/I'm waiting for the only thing guarantee… Melrose Avenue has toured with Ice Nine Kills, The Funeral Portrait, and The Word Alive. They released an EP called “Fool and the Beggar” in December of 2024 through Hopeless Records and are currently touring.
The buzz around these bands will only continue to build, so keep them top of mind when searching for your next stream or conversation about music.
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