A Fayetteville glam-rock band is celebrating its first Carolina Music Video Award win.
Punk Angels took home the 2025 award for Best Rock Music Video for their song “Sleeze Machine” at the ninth annual Carolina Music Video Awards on Sept. 21. They are the first rock band from Fayetteville to win a Carolina Music Video Award.
“Drawing on the flamboyance of Mötley Crüe and the anthemic hooks of KISS, they fuse classic hard-rock attitude with modern energy and visuals,” a news release from the group announcing their win said. “The band has built a fiercely loyal regional following — more than 16,000 Instagram fans and growing — and a reputation for electrifying live shows that feel equal parts arena spectacle and underground club mayhem.”
The Fayetteville-based band members — who go by stage names — are lead singer Isaac “Ice” Anderson, 22; rhythm guitarist Lizzy Hall, 21; lead guitarist Mello Wes, 22; bassist Momo, 18; and drummer Winston Heart, 29.
Anderson said Oct. 2 that this was the band’s first award since forming in 2022.
He suspects their video came to the attention of the Carolina Music Video Awards through word of mouth and fan recordings from one of the more than 55 live shows they’ve performed. He said the award has allowed them to grow their Instagram fanbase exponentially.
“The day that we won the award, we got over 1,000 followers instantly,” he said.
All five members attended schools in Cumberland County. Heart said he is a Douglas Byrd High School alum and disabled veteran; Anderson, who attended Terry Sanford High School, owns rental properties throughout Fayetteville; and Wes, who also attended Douglas Byrd, attends UNC Charlotte. Momo, who attended Seventy-First High School, and Hall, a Southview High School alum, are fulltime musicians.
Fayetteville band Punk Angels posing for a photo at the 9th annual Carolina Music Video Awards at The Parr Center in Charlotte, Sept. 21, 2025
Who are the Punk Angels?
Anderson said the band attracts venue owners with their mature attitude despite their wild looks.
“You shake somebody’s hand you look somebody in the eyes … and that’s the biggest way that we’ve promoted our band,” he said. “We are a huge, contagious ball of energy that can’t be replicated.”
Heart, the drummer, said that the band plays original songs, and their sets consist of about 11 songs.
Anderson said that the band members still have other responsibilities, including school and work, but each member understands Punk Angels is a priority, and he hopes this award proves that the sky is the limit.
“We show people through our actions that at the end of the day, we are serious about it,” he said. “That also further shows, to anybody that maybe doubted or hesitated or questioned anything about us, that shows the validity of what we’ve been doing.”
The band last played in Fayetteville at the Crown Complex at the Michael Williams Jr. vs. Demarcus Corley boxing match in October 2024. Since then, Anderson said, Punk Angels has played at various venues throughout North Carolina.
“We’ve been playing Raleigh, Charlotte, Wilmington … We’ve kind of been on an unofficial tour,” he said. “There are random towns in North Carolina that I’ve never heard of before … and we’re just playing there.”
What does the future have in store?
The focus of the Punk Angels has now turned to releasing their debut album, “Angels With Dirty Face,” which Anderson said should be released before the year’s end.
“We’ve been sitting on an album for a good minute,” he said.
The band is next scheduled to play at Reboot Arcade in Winston-Salem on Halloween, but also has performances scheduled in Johnson City, Tennessee, on Dec. 12; and in Atlanta on Feb. 7, 2026.
For updates on the band, visit instagram.com/punkangelsofficial or facebook.com/PunkAngelsxxx.
Public Safety Reporter Joseph Pierre can be reached at [email protected].
This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Punks Angels of Fayetteville take home Carolina Music Video Award
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