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The Dare: the controversial golden boy joins the We Love Green Festival
Producer of Charli XCX and Billie Eilish’s track “Guess,” The Dare—New York clubbers’ favorite golden boy—has been on a meteoric rise, reviving 2000s rock with a boost of electroclash and dance-punk. On June 8, he’ll perform on stage at the We Love Green festival in Paris.
by Alexis Thibault.
Publié le 9 april 2025. Modifié le 10 April 2025.
The Dare, New York’s new bad boy
Some night owls hail Harrison Smith as the next big thing in clubbing. Others are even more effusive: the man known as “The Dare” is breathing new life into late-2000s New York rock. It’s as if he could turn any small gathering into a hyper-hip Manhattan party…
At 29, the Los Angeles native, with his minimalist aesthetic, has gone all in on the timeless black suit-and-tie look, irreverent lyrics, a few sharp-tongued interview quotes, and the angelic face of a new model darling among fashion magazines.
One year after releasing his debut four-track EP The Sex EP (2023), The Dare is now promoting his first studio album: What’s Wrong with New York. In twenty-seven minutes of electroclash and dance-punk à la LCD Soundsystem or Fischerspooner, he delivers new wave and synthpop surges that once electrified the arty circles of the Big Apple. As a good golden boy, he’s already winning over the masses.
But once the glossy surface starts to crack, what’s left? Not much, unfortunately. The provocations that everyone’s chasing come off like blank-firing bullets. His cool is entirely manufactured, and his album—designed as a pastiche of the best of fifteen years ago—feels as explosive as it is repetitive. As effective as a placebo.
The meteoric rise of indie sleaze’s new icon
After a brief stint as “Turtlenecked”—described by Discogs in 2015 as “indie rock with zigzag structure and whimsical lyricism”—Harrison Smith ended up behind the decks at Hedi Slimane’s private parties. He soon signed every page of a contract with Republic Records, the influential label home to Drake, Taylor Swift, The Weeknd, Nicki Minaj, and Ariana Grande. Fueled by tracks like Girls and Good Time, his prophetic 2023 EP featured a suggestive cover: two anonymous couples simulating sex… fully clothed. Obscenity has its limits.
With abrasive electro-pop that could scandalize aristocrats or land on the FIFA soundtrack, The Dare has become the nostalgic reincarnation of indie sleaze—a party ethos from the 2010s whose icons include Hedi Slimane, Kate Moss, and Pete Doherty. Without realizing it, he’s revived an era we thought long gone, when emaciated models would rally the crowd from the DJ booth at the trendiest club of the moment—and we thought it was chic.
To his credit, Harrison Smith is upfront about his influences: “Electroclash and dance-punk represent a lot of my ideals in music. It should be fun, dangerous, somewhat punk and primal, but always tasteful and stylish.”
Guess, The Dare’s collab with Charli XCX and Billie Eilish
The Dare’s risqué lyrics, delivered in a blasé tone throughout his album, may have helped catapult his fame: “I like girls who make love, but I love girls who like to fuck. […] Girls who fuck on the train. Girls who got so much hair on they ass, it clogs the drain…” He also rode the wave of the brat summer aesthetic—popularized by Charli XCX—by producing Guess, her track featuring none other than Billie Eilish. He even makes a brief appearance in the Aidan Zamiri-directed music video, released late last summer.
Ultimately, The Dare’s hyper-cinematic and unmistakably cool music isn’t exactly erotic. His records play like déjà-vu tracks, as with Perfume and Movement from his debut album—a formula of catchy hooks underpinned by oozing basslines. The influence of LCD Soundsystem is palpable in these fiery anthems, though here, they’re crafted solely to feed the fervor of New York’s underground club scene.
“What I do isn’t that complicated,” he admits. “It’s all about energy. It’s about giving people permission to have a good time.” Familiar as they may sound, The Dare’s tracks shun experimentation in favor of what simply works.
What’s Wrong With New York? (2024) by The Dare – out now. Catch him live at We Love Green festival, June 8.
