Tchotchke - "Poor Girl"

Photo by Taryn Segal

New York City's Tchotchke might end up being our favorite musical discovery of 2025, and their latest single will show you why. Personally, I've always been obsessed with the girl groups of the 1960's, and "Poor Girl" shows the trio channeling that sound into something new. The song also showcases vintage keys that are similar to those found in ? and the Mysterians songs, but without the garage rock insanity. "Poor Girl" is overflowing with some of my personal favorite styles, merging girl group vocals and harmonies with vintage garage rock in this fun and fairly chilled out sound, but Tchotchke never truly sound like a throwback act. They've taken classic styles and remade them into something fresh and modern with vintage vibes.

Emily Tooranen (guitar/vocals) says of the band's new single:

“We confined ourselves to creating the personas of three ungrateful and out-of-touch girls with complete stories in the span of four lines each. The challenge was emphasizing the fact that these girls were not ‘poor’ in the slightest but, in fact, very privileged to have the self-imposed problems they’re so tortured over. The song embraces the girls’ short sob stories while also capturing a sunshiney, Beach Boys quality. It wasn’t until after the completion of the song, to our collective shock, that we realized our counterparts had effortlessly cast themselves. All along, we were creating the villain versions of each other.”

You can watch the video for "Poor Girl" below. Playin' Dumb is due out September 5, and is available for pre-order here. For more on Tchotchke, check out the band's website.