From underground buzz to mainstream anthems, Harrison Patrick Smith—better known as The Dare—has become a defining voice in the New York music scene.

After being named dropped in and producing the infectious summer hit “Guess” by Charli XCX and Billie Eilish and dropping his debut LP What’s Wrong with New York? he’s hit the mainstream. 

The Dare started his career making indie-rock songs under the alias Turtlenecked. The songs sounded like every other wanna-be Pavement or Pixies band. He was going nowhere, and in 2022 he wrote “Girls.” Inspired by The Rolling Stones album “Some Girls,” the track started to take off immediately.

A kin to the punk-rock attitude of the Strokes and 80s New York club music, the track felt like a retro rejection of all things pop.  

Black suit, cigarette, sunglasses, and a Paul Weller-esque mod cut. As a proud Englishmen myself, if you told me this guy was American I’d call you crazy.

What’s setting The Dare apart from the crowd at the moment is his look. He’s doing what everyone else isn’t. He’s a bit of an enigma, scowling the streets of New York City, always in uniform, always in character. 

It’s all well and good having a cool look with rockin’ influences, but your music has got to back it up.

The Dare’s long awaited LP didn’t quite live up to the hype. What’s Wrong With New York? reflects his punky attitude, but the production comes off as though it’s trying a LITTLE too hard to be from a different era.

He cops a lot from LCD Soundsystem, but there seems to be no shame behind it. The production becomes overdone towards the end of the record, and the whole “bad boy” gag gets repetitive. 

Yet I love it. It’s fun. It’s different. It stinks of imperfection, and its counterfeit retro mood is drowned out by its thumping bass and feral lyrics. 

A clear highlight of the record was the adequately titled “I Destroyed Disco.” The opening line gets straight to the point, leaving no questions. “I break records, glasses, faces. Kicked the whole world in the teeth with my untied laces.”

The Dare doesn’t care. There are no heartbreak songs, just bringing back the grime and sex of the punk-rock of yesterday.