Brooklyn’s THICK return with ‘Heavy Metal’, a ferocious feminist anthem about the daily violence of living in a body the world treats as a constant war zone and a profit margin. The track marks the band’s first recording with its updated lineup.
‘Heavy Metal’ pushes back against the legislating, medicating and endangering of our bodies, taking aim at bodily autonomy, inaccessible healthcare, the ongoing mental health crisis and the reality of school shooter drills. It also questions the idea of “conscious consumerism” in a system where we’re expected to shop our way out of problems created by capitalism.
A different kind of earworm, ‘Heavy Metal’ delivers a catchy chorus with a bigger message, getting stuck in your head and demanding to be heard.
THICK explains:
“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.”
Catch THICK live at The Broadway in Brooklyn, NY on October 10 with support from Big Girl and Cotillion.
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