Overview:
We look at the best indie and overlooked music videos of 2025.
Welcome back to the annual countdown of the best music videos from the underground. Today we have some classic acts that put out stellar new videos, some spectacularly angry ladies, and one cute love story. Enjoy!
40. “Grateful,” Atmosphere
One thing I have noticed doing this countdown for a decade is that multiple artists will pick up on things culturally and iterate on them independent of one another. This year, there was a marked uptick in videos about hypocritical Christianity, and especially about dictatorial preachers. “Grateful” has a fun take on the concept, framing it almost as a telenovela.
39. “The Girl With the Terminal Stare,” Ghost Cop
A goth act playing homage to Re-Animator? Yes, please. It’s an old school spooky jam that makes me want to drag my arthritic body down to Numbers. The only downside is that the band doesn’t really develop the concept much over the runtime, sticking to some zombie dancing and a shot of a neato chemistry set.
38. “A Witch, a Surf Punk,” Chicano Mosh
A good music video is like a short story with a soundtrack. “A Witch, A Surf Punk” isn’t going to win any awards for thematic complexity, but it’s a damn cute love story/party vid that oozes fun from every pore. Also, shout out to the enduring legacy of the Mexican video store, which is still going strong and makes an appearance in this video!
37. “Tyrant King,” Gwar
It’s been a pretty good year for the Scumdogs of the Universe. Republicans are mad at them for executing the president in effigy, and the crack-addled T-Rex Gor-Gor returned for a new album and a few videos. Since the kids today might need a refresher on why Gwar rules, here’s “Tyrant King!”
36. “Everyday is Halloween (Squirrely Version),” Ministry
I never would have guessed that Uncle Al would be one of the artists taking the Taylor Swift route and re-recording his work, but here we are with a killer version of every goth’s favorite pop club hit. Al Jourgensen didn’t try to re-invent the wheel here, but did make a reasonable facsimile of every decent goth video made in the mid-2000s. That is not a complaint.
35. “No Homo,” Lambrini Girls
Lambrini Girls is life, a pure punk poetry delivered like a machine gun with used tampons for bullets. A string of great music videos this year capture the sucker punch that is the band’s aesthetic, but my favorite was “No Homo.” It pays homage to the sheer number of same-sex attraction realizations that take place in club bathrooms on top of being the band’s best banger.
34. “Riding With My Girls,” Die Spitz
I have been covering music videos for nearly two decades, and the first 40 seconds of “Riding With My Girls” is the funniest thing I have ever seen in the medium. The rest of the video is mostly riot grrls riot grrling, which is no bad thing because Die Spitz does it brilliantly, but that intro is just iconic.
33. “Pray,” Vana
Satanic metal videos are a dime a dozen, but “Pray” by Vana stands out in two area. One, Vana herself is very, very good at being demonic as she effortlessly moves between baby-voiced and hellion. Two, her back-up dancers (Ella Klein, Kelsey Boyle, Laila Rose Sneddon, and Mia Bojanic) are really turning in a performance for the ages. It’s one thing to replicated the famous spider-walk from The Exorcist. It’s quite another to turn it into a whole, bone-bending routine that will haunt your nightmares.
32. “Sepsis,” Gore.
Metal videos often lack a sense of style outside of your basic demonic trappings. “Sepsis” has those, but also some unforgettable shots like singer Haley Roughton pulling herself out of a grave dug in the middle of a nice suburban house. The deformation of the banal makes something that would be otherwise mid into terrifying.
31. “Had to Be There,” Mobley
It’s time for some kooky, kooky split-screen to indicate the broken state of the being our two heroes are living in! Jokes aside, “Had to Be There” is a heck of a sweet little rom-com video with a triumphant ending that should melt the coldest heart. See you tomorrow for some more music video goodness!
This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2025.