THICK are fucking back, baby. The Brooklyn quartet, which we dubbed a Band To Watch in 2018, have returned with a new single "Heavy Metal." It's their first new music in two years, following their 2024 singles "Mother" and "Father."
Things are bad. We know this. On their new single "Heavy Metal," THICK detail all the bullshit inequity, ranging from toxic men to toxic chemicals in tampons, that women have to deal with. The opening line goes, "Heavy metal in our tampons/ No one cares about our bodies/ Til conception." The following verses get into the shrinking access to abortions and how we're all slaves to capital, including the newborns.
"Heavy Metal" feels especially timely with the current Cornell rape investigation. It feels even reductive to bring that up in a blog post, but it's fucked up, and the world is fucked up. Here, THICK hold the systems in place accountable for allowing things be fucked up. All to say that, art is not neutral. Sorry Ed.
In a press release, THICK also shared some insight on the track:
This song started as a verse or two after the Berkeley study came out about heavy metals being found in tampons and snowballed into a larger indictment of the systemic violations that we carry around every day.
The violence and neglect we experience is a predictable result of systems that don’t see us as people, but objects to be exploited. You see it in the imbalance of consequences: Survivors of rape are often shunned if they go public or carry the weight of assault alone, a woman carries the full burden of contraception, health risks and medical costs around conception, putting money into insurance companies’ pockets while bodily autonomy continues to be challenged and eliminated in some states. Teachers are responsible for protecting kids from school shooters, while pharma companies see an opportunity for profit in the degradation of our mental health.
We’re sold the idea that we can subvert the system with consumer choices, as if the main fix for a broken system is trying harder inside it. The real issue is who benefits when people are too broke and too tired to push back.
As I said, things are bad. But with THICK back, maybe a little less so. Watch the video below.
