Kevin Bronson on April 16th, 2019

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Friend, family, community — they’re all great. But sometimes it feels as if we’re on our own, alone with our demons and doubts. And “Hoax,” the muscular new single from punk-metal-grunge quartet Ramonda Hammer, seeks to purge those feelings in a firestorm of heavy riffs and caterwauling vocals.

The song is the first new music from the L.A. band since its 2017 EP, “Destroyer,” and the first single from their new album “I Never Wanted Company,” out June 14.

Since Ramonda Hammer released their debut “Whatever That Means” four years ago this month, the band — singer-guitarist Devin Davis, guitarist Justin Geter, bassist Andy Hengl and drummer Mark Edwards — has charged toward the top of the ranks of a small but vital L.A. community of female- and queer-fronted hard rock bands and solo artists. They’ve done so with fearless abandon, and on the new album Davis peels away whatever layers of reserve remained on the quartet’s first two releases. “I’m an anxious person,” she says. “It helps me to play loud rock music with gritty sounds and brash lyrics. Sometimes you need to scream to wake up.”

She punctuates the end of “Hoax” with the cry, “No one is coming!,” and while that may or may not be true, her empowering message is that you have to forge ahead that way. See the breakdown at the 1:45 mark for further inspiration.

“I Never Wanted Company,” produced by Alex Newport (Death Cab For Cutie, Frank Turner, Bloc Party, Criminal Hygiene), is being released by L.A. independent New Professor Music.

||| Stream: “Hoax”

||| Live: Ramonda Hammer plays the Echo on June 14. Tickets.