Children is Wealthy Women’s blistering response to the political realities of America following Donald Trump’s re-election in 2024. It confronts the defining crises of the current moment: the online radicalisation of young men, the human cost of cruel immigration policies, and the casual inhumanity of modern warfare. Two members of the band are US immigrants, one Irish, the other second-generation Filipino, which lends an added weight of outrage and grief to these songs.
The album erupts into life with a barrage of furious drums and crushing guitars before finally allowing a moment to breathe halfway through opener “37 Days.” It serves as an early glimpse into the uncompromising world of Children. The track recounts the story of Asaad al-Nasasra, a Palestinian Red Crescent paramedic detained by Israeli forces on 23 March 2025 following an attack that killed eight of his colleagues. Held for 37 days without access to legal counsel, he was released on 29 April. The Israeli military later admitted its attack on the clearly marked ambulances after international outcry.
“Men of the West” slithers forward like a dense slippery snake with some excellent guitar work. The anger is immediate, with Sisk pulling you in through the line, “You’ll never leave, you can never retreat.” Unexpected twists keep the track from settling into predictability, but this is still a relentlessly forward-driving rock record. Wealthy Women have refined their sound and committed to it completely. Children is unapologetically political, and the band have no interest in disguising where they stand.
“Take It Back” provides one of the album’s most cathartic moments and stands out thanks to its discordant guitars and gruff, uncompromising vocals. “Atheist Wife” races by at breakneck speed, anchored by the striking refrain, “Her right to choose takes nothing from you.” While “Worst Date” stares down the misogyny propagated by the manosphere, carrying shades of Chat Pile and Shellac. Its breakdown, in particular, channels the latter through its wiry bass tone and vocal delivery. Far from imitation, those influences strengthen the track, inviting you into its near seven-minute slow-burning assault.
“Shit Breaks” takes its time, gradually building tension before delivering a rewarding payoff, while “Siege” demands your attention immediately. Its depiction of Trump’s second term remains chillingly relevant: “Knock on the door, get on the floor / You don’t look like us, you don’t live here no more.” It’s fighting talk delivered with conviction.
The title track, “Children” closes the album on its most unsettling note. Slow, anxious and deeply affecting, it finds Sisk’s haunting voice mourning the children of Gaza and Ukraine. It’s an uncomfortable listen by design, refusing to offer easy resolution.
Children is heavy music in every sense – musically, emotionally and politically. Wealthy Women have their ears firmly to the ground, delivering an album that refuses to look away from the realities of the present moment.