Like Pop Rocks hitting the tongue, New York’s Tchotchke is classic candy-coated rock’n’roll. Sweet on the outside but filled with surprises once properly ingested, the three-piece have been winning over audiences with their Rundgren-tinged sound and masterful harmonies since 2021.
Anastasia Sanchez (vocals, drums) and Eva Chambers (bass, keys, vocals) met in the mirror of an L.A. highschool locker room in 2014—they were both fixing their bangs. A deep musical friendship was quickly formed, forged on a shared love of everything from vintage dolls to the Beach Boys, and resulting in a handful of bands together. Several years passed before fellow L.A. musician Emily Tooraen (guitar, vocals) entered Anastasia and Eva’s orbit and everything finally clicked. Tchotchke was born.
A move to the East Coast followed, and the band started working on their first album, produced by power-pop wunderkinds the Lemon Twigs in their Long Island childhood home. Tchotchke (2022) was a full-tilt rock'n'roll gem of catchy guitar riffs, powerpop piano lines and hook-heavy vocals. Tours with King Tuff, Broncho, The Gossip and The Makeup followed, and the band found themselves crossing the U.S. and Europe throughout 2023 and 2024.
With no intention of slowing down, Tchotchke found time in between the touring life to write their second LP. Entering the studio this time with songs fully arranged and demoed, the band once again enlisted the Lemon Twigs to produce—now based in a Brooklyn studio aptly dubbed “The Vegetable Attic” due to the produce warehouse located downstairs. “There’s always cabbage scattered on the street,” Eva says.
The album, Playin’ Dumb, was recorded over the course of four seasons. Contending with the Lemon Twigs’ touring schedule, the trio would jump back into the studio whenever there was a chance; from sweating it out above the wilting vegetables to walking on ice with guitars and enduring days without the heat on in order to get the perfect studio sound.
The effort and intentionality paid off, as Playin’ Dumb’s 11 tracks are more sophisticated and sonically complex than their previous work, leaning heavily into the band’s love of 60’s girl groups and outsider popsters like Harry Nilsson, Dolly Mixture, and Sparks. Themes on the album also became evident as months in the studio went on. Particularly, the band says they embraced their femininity on this album, with the result being a sonic impression of girls hanging out and “yapping,” as they like to put it.
Channeling a Shangri-Las style of conversational vocals, the cast of characters that Tchotchke personifies in Playin’ Dumb also embody classic girl group traits of lovelorn winners and losers.
$15 ADV | $20 DOS | 21+
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