Just this week, the hardcore community was blessed with another split EP to get excited about. It features Northeastern unit Anklebiter and Springfield, Illinois' Prevention, both straight edge bands with velocity and hard-hitting lyrics on their minds.
"We first met Evan from Anklebiter through Broken Vow when they came through Springfield a bit ago," Prevention vocalist Drew told me over email yesterday. "We really clicked with him (and everyone else in Broken Vow) and so eventually he brought his other band (Anklebiter) through and we all became friends."
Featuring two tracks from each band, I asked Drew to offer some insight into the lyrics to their side of the collaboration. "'Internalized' is about having this inner sense of being watched that’s developed from living in a high surveilled society. This idea that there are cameras everywhere watching all of us makes us second guess what we do and how we act. Even when the cameras aren’t there or are off, we still feel an internalized threat of punishment."
The vocalist continued: “'Don’t You Want to Be Free?' is about being part of a hardcore community that is more and more commodified and infiltrated by massive corporations that are actively destroying the planet or poisoning people."
Since we were on the subject of hardcore splits, I asked Drew which of the more recent ones he was a big fan of:
"I would say first more modern split that comes to mind is S.M.I.L.E. and SOUR. Both of those bands are full of friends that are incredibly talented, and that split has both of them putting out some of their best material so far."
First appearing on the hardcore scene via their Your Bad Habits EP in 2019, the last time we had heard from Prevention on wax was their Split the World EP last year. Naturally, I was curious when we could expect a full-length from the group.
"I wouldn’t expect LP anytime soon, but we have started gradually working on it. We’ve mostly just been focused on booking tours with our friends. We’ve got a pretty busy summer coming up. We’re doing a run with Slug in late May and a handful of other things through out June and July that aren’t announced yet."
Next month, Prevention wil be part of a special benefit show for the people of Palestine. "Our friend Lexi from Peoria and our bass player Bee have put that together. I wouldn’t say it’s important for us in particular to be a part of, but it is important for people to show their support and help in any way they can.
"The Palestinian genocide will be a defining event for our generation and the world. We’re all very hopeful it can still be a story with some kind of resolution that sees Palestinians returned to their land and with the freedom and peace that all people are deserving of. Benefits and donations are just one piece of the puzzle."
In classic No Echo fashion, I asked Drew to give us some suggestions on bands in their region of Illinois we should be on the lookout for:
"From Springfield specifically, I would say bands like Innervision and Fatal Dose. For the Midwest more broadly I would say Bootcamp from Iowa City, Primitive Rage from Missouri, What Counts/Velocity/Full Stride from Indiana, and En Love from Ohio."
The Anklebiter/Prevention split EP is available now across all digital music outlets, and on vinyl via Sunday Drive Records and Delayed Gratification Records.
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