The Dare | Artist to Watch — October 2024

Don’t try to find a lot of deep meaning in The Dare. If you do, you may overthink the joy out of the experience of listening to them. Just surrender to the grooves, the energy, and the undeniable fun of this dance-rock band, which is our October Artist To Watch. Singer, songwriter, DJ, producer, and analog gear nerd Harrison Patrick Smith has put together a fantastic debut LP, What’s Wrong With New York?

The Dare’s debut is snarky and snotty. But its arrogance is charming, its boasting is fun, and the electro-pop beats are tight and meticulous. Our Bruce Warren and Jim McGuinn saw them live at their Philly debut at Johnny Brenda’s and witnessed a couple hundred mostly 20-somethings lose their minds dancing, phones in the air, singing along to every word of every song — tspecially the 2022 dance jam, “Girls,” (a tongue-in-cheek, undeniably catchy song with the punch line: “I like girls who make love, but I love girls who like to f*#%.”)

While the lyrical depth of their songs is not intended to shed much light on the human condition, the point — as Daft Punk has said — is to lose yourself in dance. Sure, there’s some cultural reflection about twenty-and-thrity-somethings baked into Smith’s songs. But what we are most struck by is how Smith weaves all these familiar musical sounds from different decades into something so disarmingly fresh. Touchpoints of the Beastie Boys, Rick James, Yaz, Bodyrox, LMFAO, Ladytron, Afrika Bam, ESG, James White (“Contort Yourself”), even Sir Mix-A-Lot’s “Baby Got Back” weave in and out of The Dare’s songs, with lots of grooves and bleeps and psycho-key fills and a heavy dose of punk spirit. Fans often reference LCD Soundsystem, Peaches, Death From Above 1979, Calvin Harris, even Cake when describing their sound.

So dig in if any of this is calling to you. We personally can’t wait to see their show again.