Wealthy Women do not mess around. ‘Atheist Wife’ opens with 4 beats on the hi-hat before a sonic detonation and the full-throated roar of the lines “Is it because she goes to work and doesn’t need to check with her husband first? ‘cause she’s got a credit card, ‘cause she’s allowed to drive a car. She won’t get her kid baptised, doesn’t believe in the shame and lies. We learned first time around; equal pay doesn’t trickle down”
San Francisco’s Wealthy Women are unlikely to be wearing flowers in their hair or crooning about the Bay Area Tony Bennett-style, they are a band driven by social injustices such as Asaad al-Nasasra, the Palestinian Red Crescent paramedic detained by Israeli forces after an attack that killed eight of his colleagues, to the misogyny rampant in the manosphere.
‘Atheist Wife’ was written as a reaction to JD Vance’s comments about “childless cat ladies” to which the band respond, “This song was inspired by two remarkable people; my wife and JD Vance. It’s a reaction to the infamous ‘childless cat ladies’ attack by the Vice President in a 2021 interview on Fox News. I tried to capture the mix of anger and bemusement I felt by comparing the two figures. One represents a reactionary Christian sect intent on turning the clock back on women’s rights, presides over an administration that peddles cruelty as spectacle and enables the murder of women and children around the globe to further their aims. The other is a delightful lady who does her best to be kind to people. It is true that she owns cats, though.”
The track is taken from their forthcoming album Children which the band describe as: “written largely in the wake of the 2024 election and shaped by the rising tide of despair throughout 2025, the album confronts the crises that define this political moment: toxic masculinity and the online radicalisation of young men, the human cost of cruel immigration policy, and the casual inhumanity of modern war. As the weight of those subjects grows heavier, the band’s tunings dropped lower to match. This is heavy music made by people with their ears to the ground.”
Discussion and debate are sadly rare today, so a burst of well-intentioned rage against the toxic machine is a healthy way to power the debate, especially when it’s delivered with an exhilarating battery of low-tuned instruments and solid-as-a-rock drums. Wealthy Women are not currently in the business of writing TED talks on the injustices of the current political climate; they are a one-inch-punch of righteous anger against those who are pulling apart democracy to promote their own religious zealotry and their own financial gain. There can’t be many songs that would get added to a playlist labelled ‘I love my wife and also hate reactionary Christian zealots’.
Wealthy Women are Peter Sisk Guitar / Vocals, Don Doblados Bass, Andrew Harms Drums
Wealthy Women: Website | Instagram | Facebook | Bandcamp | YouTube
Lyrics:
Is it because she goes to work
And doesn’t need to check with her husband first
Cause she’s got a credit card
Cause she’s allowed to drive a car
She won’t get her kid baptised
Doesn’t believe in the shame and lies
We learned first time around
Equal pay doesn’t trickle down
Her right to choose
Takes nothing from you
Her right to breathe
Her right to live
You spend so much time on your knees
Do you wonder how it feels
Sure she’s got a couple of cats
Well I can think of many things worse than that
She offered to take my name
Well I said no that’s weird and lame
At least she goes to therapy
Unlike you red hat manchild freaks
She’d make a better vice president
Her right to choose
Takes nothing from you
Her right to breathe
Her right to live
You spend so much time on your knees
Do you wonder how it feels
Why do you despise my atheist wife
Why do you despise my atheist wife
Why do you despise my atheist wife
She’s nice
You’re scared
You’re scared
You’re scared to be alone up there
Review by Paul F Cook
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