NYC’s diva rock trio Tchotchke present “Now I Love You,” a new single/video from their upcoming album Playin’ Dumb, out September 5th. In conjunction, they announce a North American tour opening for Hunx and His Punx. “Now I Love You” follows two sunny singles – “Poor Girl” and “Did You Hear?” Upon the announcement of the album, the “Poor Girl” video quickly climbed to 33k+ views and hundreds of glowing comments flooded Tchotchke’s videos and social media. The initial singles received resounding support from the likes of Rolling Stone, CREEM, FLOOD, Under The Radar, The Needle Drop, and today’s “Now I Love You” offers a more stripped-down, luminous sound. It waltzes along with winking keys and Anastasia Sanchez’s alluring voice, its lyrics charmingly unsure: “Did I fall in love too quickly? // ‘Cause I’ve got this rushing feeling // Taking over like a puppy with fleas.” The accompanying video, directed by Kaila Chambers and Hilla Eden, is awash in colors that evoke the mood of 60s French films. Sanchez elaborates on the song: “This song was started in 2019 but quietly took a backseat until 2023. Eva and I revisited it and made a super minimal demo that we loved so much, we decided to keep it exactly as it was. It’s our short and sweet insecure love song.”

Playin’ Dumb’s 11 tracks are sophisticated and sonically complex, leaning heavily into the band’s love of 60’s rock and outsider popsters like Harry Nilsson, Dolly Mixture, and Sparks. Channeling a Shangri-Las style of conversational vocals, the cast of characters that Tchotchke personifies in Playin’ Dumb embody classic girl group traits of lovelorn winners and losers. These narrators are hyper-feminine caricatures of the band themselves, with aspects of their personalities amplified to the point of high drama.

To write Playin’ Dumb, Anastasia Sanchez (vocals, drums), Eva Chambers (bass, keys, vocals) and Emily Tooraen (guitar, vocals) came to the studio with songs fully arranged and demoed. Produced by the Lemon Twigs  in a Brooklyn studio aptly dubbed “The Vegetable Attic,” Playin’ Dumb was recorded over the course of four seasons. Tchotchke would jump back into the studio whenever there was a chance in the Lemon Twigs’ touring schedule; 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. An original board game designed by Eva accompanies the vinyl release of Playin’ Dumb. It’s a colorful tabletop trip of girlspeak, gossip and truth or dare prompts that reflect the themes of the album, as well as the band’s personalities and style.

Just in time to celebrate the release of Playin’ Dumb, Tchotchke will tour across the east coast and midwest with Hunx and His Punx. Tchotchke’s live show is an energetic, colorful look into their vibrant world. Tickets for all shows are on sale now.

Tchotchke Tour Dates
(all with Hunx and his Punx)
Tue. Sept. 9 – New York, NY @ Warsaw
Thu. Sept. 11 – Washington, DC @ Black Cat
Fri. Sept. 12 – Philadelphia, PA @ First Unitarian Church
Sat. Sept. 13 – Cleveland, OH @ Grog Shop
Sun. Sept. 14 – Toronto, ON @ Lee’s Palace
Tue. Sept. 16 – Chicago, IL @ Empty Bottle

Pre-order Playin’ Dumb