Overview:
Part 5 of our yearly countdown of the best underground and indie music videos.
We’re at the cream of the crop! Here are the ten best underground and indie music videos of 2025. If you were looking for new bands to follow, you couldn’t do any better than these groups.
10. “Madeline,” Carter Vail
Carter Vail is the master of 30-second surreal songs like “Dirt Man” and “I’d Be the Baddest Boy at Hogwarts,” but his more traditional indie rock side is also fun as heck. “Madeline” showcases his love of weird visual as he uses a magic box to summon a female doppelganger. I can’t tell if this is a love story or a tale of trans awakening, but either way it’s lovely and memorable.
9. “Baptism,” Lovejoy
The world is full to the back teeth with grifters in holy sacraments and megachurch carnies, but we never get to see the moments when the weight of the hypocrisy crushes them. Lovejoy offers us a glimpse as his version of a charismatic preacher has a full-on psychotic breakdown. Ironically, it makes the world feel like a more normal place.
8. “Dragon,” Skullcrusher
Helen Ballentine never does what you expect, which is probably why an ethereal indie singer goes by Skullcrusher. This collaboration with director Jerey Reynoso is absolutely brilliant. It shows Ballentine interacting with a tiny, desktop version of herself. The life-size one tries to make her fun-sized one happy in a variety of ways, but ultimately has to absorb her in a flash of fairy light. It’s a strange way to look at our inner child, but no less delightful for being odd.
7. “Dave, I Feel Bad for You,” Dodie
Never respond to the comments online . . . unless of course you’re Dodie and you can hire Jeff Goldblum to help you do it. She plays a newscaster reporting on a little internet drama while also dodging assassination attempts. The mod-1960s vibe is amazing, and the quirk level is off the charts
6. “More Dumb,” Durry
Puppets make nearly everything better. Austin and Taryn Durry star in felt mental breakdown where we get to see the inside of Austin’s head being run by two very incompetent puppets. As Austin’s paranoia and anxiety grow, things get metal. But, like, adorably metal.
5. “Rattlesnake Preacher,” Ashley McBryde
The video opens with a support group for people traumatized by loved ones, and when Ashley McBryde lets loose it tears the roof off. This ode to hypocritical religious leaders and the damage they do is an absolute door-rattler, with McBryde leaving nothing on the table vocally or acting wise.
4. “Keith,” Playlunch
There were a lot of great music videos this year, but only one I watched on the edge of my seat to the very end so I could see how the plot resolved. “Keith” is the tale of a musclehead Australian man who flies into a Hulk-like rage if anyone parks in front of his house. The premise is silly, but every second of the adventure is hilarious.
3. “I Feel Different Every Day,” clothegod
Clothegod’s “I Feel Different Every Day” is am anxiety-riddled tribute to a lot of things: the rage of the stalled American dream, the way marginalized communities often choose between military service and poverty, and the shame that comes from living on the edge. While she starts plaintive, she soon explodes in an almost-punk preaching. Every frame of the video is a painting, although it’s often a sad one.
2. “Muse,” Sofia Isella
Sofia Isella is more of an experience than a musician, a whispering banshee that is gets more metal in a single shaky syllable than a thousand screamers. “Muse” explores the idea of a muse as a mother figure or perhaps a dark god, and Isella certainly turns the idea into an incomprehensible act of worship. As always, she is disturbing and impressive.
1. ‘Death Cult Zombie,” Genesis Owusu
All good zombie fiction is a social commentary, and Genesis Owusu uses the trope for an epic smackdown against white supremacy. Having the first undead racist come crawling out of the laptop was an especially nice nod to the modern method of fascist dissemination. On top of that, the track is a bop, the flow hits like a truck, and who doesn’t love an old school zombie dance line? It was the best underground music video of 2025.