Clad in a black suit and tie, black sunglasses, and a mod haircut to rival Liam Gallagher’s, The Dare, a substitute teacher turned rocker, has created an iconic persona for himself that is crawling its way into the minds of dance rock listeners across the nation.

After blowing up on social media while DJing with Charli XCX during her boiler room set, and producing her hit song “Guess”,  28 year old Harrison Patrick Smith, commonly known as The Dare, was shot from a cannon into the spotlight. Later the song was remixed with Billie Eilish and his popularity reached new heights overnight. While at the time the Dare had only one EP out, his single “Girls”, made in the middle of the pandemic back in 2020, took over the New York dance rock scene because of its assertive synth line and over the top production.

On September 6th, after months of anticipation from fans for more content, What’s Wrong With New York was released, and by the title alone, it was clear that the album was going to be just as audacious as “Girls”. The Album as a whole has many similarities to his earlier work, highlighted in tracks like “Open Up”, “I Destroyed Disco”, and “All Night”. Heavy synth undertones, simple commanding lyrics that have no desire to sound elegant and frankly have no need to. While the sound The Dare has forced into the New York music scene has been around since the 90’s with artists such as LCD Soundsystem and The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, he has undoubtedly exposed a new generation to the formerly popular sound.

Now The Dare is selling out shows across the nation on his the dare does the US tour for his debut album. Starting in Colorado and making stops on the way to Los Angeles, where he will then fly out to London for his first international show. It is hard to decide whether The Dare is more iconic for his music or his aura, but it is certain that the chokehold he has around the dance rock scene is only getting tighter.