XCOMM have dropped ferocious new single ‘PIRATES’ featuring Ghostemane, arriving as the final warning shot before the release of their debut album ‘Time To Burn’.
Credit: Darren Graig
The Venice Beach hardcore outfit’s first full-length record lands May 22 via Blowed Out Records, and if ‘PIRATES’ is anything to go by, it’s going to hit like a brick through a windscreen.
Produced by legendary producer Ross Robinson, whose résumé includes landmark releases from Korn, Slipknot, Glassjaw and At the Drive-In — ‘Time To Burn’ captures XCOMM at their most volatile: loud, messy, funny and completely out of control in the best possible way.
‘PIRATES’ throws the band’s frantic hardcore energy straight into Ghostemane’s darker industrial world, resulting in a track that feels chaotic enough to collapse under its own weight at any second. The accompanying video, directed by Darren Craig, only adds to the madness, featuring Ghostemane alongside Fletcher Dragge from Pennywise in a surreal spiral of police chases, destruction and suburban disorder.
Frontman Michael Gatto described recording the album with Robinson as an intense but rewarding process. “Every little bit of writing and recording with Ross was amazing,” he said. “This is just the beginning.”Drummer Revel Ian added that the sessions became “the most cathartic experience” of his life, explaining that the band approached the record without limitations or overthinking.
For a band only just starting out, XCOMM’s rise has been absurdly fast. Early singles like ‘Fake ID’, ‘Hot Pursuit / One And Nothing’ and ‘Borrowed Happiness’ have already helped build a huge online following, while their reputation as a live band has seen them share stages with Foo Fighters and land slots at events including California Chaos Festival and Warped Tour.
The list of supporters backing the band already reads unreal for a debut-era hardcore act, with names including Dave Grohl, Jack Black, Fred Durst, Skrillex and Keanu Reeves all publicly backing the group. Robinson himself has described the band as part of an “anti-AI movement”, praising their rawness and refusal to polish away imperfections. And honestly, that’s exactly what makes XCOMM work.
Across ‘Time To Burn’, the band channel boredom, frustration and total youthful recklessness into short, violent bursts of hardcore punk that feel immediate rather than nostalgic. There’s influence from classic punk and hardcore throughout, but also flashes of weirdness pulled from horror films, industrial music and total suburban collapse.
At a time where so much heavy music feels carefully calculated, XCOMM sound like a band actively trying to kick holes through the walls before anyone can tell them to calm down.