Brassneck / Shield / My Ruin (2026)
First off, apologies that I haven't posted anything here in a few weeks (not that I'm completely sure anyone even noticed). There's just been a lot going on, particularly in the morning when I typically write things for this site. As we're three quarters of the way through the year, I'm going to do my best to post more regularly to close out 2026. December will be 15 years of doing this site, so I want to at least get to that landmark in a semi-respectable fashion.
What better way to fire things back up than a new 7" from one of my most favorite active bands, Custody. I've written about them enough that almost anything I say at this point will be somewhat repetitive but that's only because Custody is just so gosh darn consistently wonderful. If you are looking for a middle ground between Leatherface and Samiam, this is where you want your feet to be.
The first song on this record is a cover of a German band called Duesenjaeger. They aren't a band I'm familiar with, so I looked up and listened to their version of "Midnight Crisis" after playing Custody's cover. Musically, they're pretty similar. It's a song that drifts into the darker Wipers adjacent arena of melodic punk. The Duesenjaeger version (which only just came out in 2023, I would have guessed it to be older than that) is in German where the Custody version is sung in English. It's a good song and while slightly darker than your typical Custody fare, it still fits into their canon nicely.
The 7" then continues with two more songs, "Trier" and "None But Fragile." Both are exactly what I want out of Custody. Super melodic and strong vocals over dynamic guitar work that always builds into a most excellent chorus. They're a band that really can do no wrong and this 7" is as essential as anything else they've done. If you don't already have them, also go buy all of their full lengths. And while you're at it, there's a PopKid 7" of theirs I could direct you to if I was feeling shameless...
Custody - 3.1:
