[Western Music] Both Speed and Bittersweet Feels! Recommended Melodic Hardcore/Punk Bands [2026]

In the 2020s, what kind of image comes to mind when you hear the music genre “melocore”? Chances are, the bands and sounds you think of vary depending on your generation.

The heyday of melocore in the ’90s, the early 2000s boom of pop punk and youth punk, the mid-2010s onward pop-punk revival—each band has had its own sound.

In this piece, we focus on melocore—short for melodic hardcore—which has become established in Japan as the abbreviation for melodic hardcore, just as the name suggests.

We’ll also look at related styles like pop punk, selecting both veteran acts and rising younger bands drawing attention in the 2020s.