The Dare

Harrison Patrick Smith performs under the moniker the Dare, a New York-based project whose sound merges synth-driven 2000s indie-sleaze with electroclash-inflected dance-pop, often laced with satirical excess. After earlier activity as Turtlenecked, Smith drew attention in 2022 through the single "Girls," then issued his first album under the new name, What's Wrong with New York?, in 2024.

Smith entered the world in Los Angeles and spent his childhood in Seattle, where he began playing violin and guitar. Following graduation from high school he enrolled at Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon, to study English literature. While on campus he assembled the indie-rock group Turtlenecked, which put out the 2016 album Pure along with multiple EPs.

Smith moved to New York City in 2017 and kept performing with Turtlenecked while taking on work as a substitute teacher and club DJ. During these years he also started laying down tracks as the Dare, pieces frequently marked by a tongue-in-cheek sensibility and a blend of 1980s post-punk textures with the same 2000s indie-sleaze and electroclash palette. August 2022 brought the release of "Girls," the project's first single—a hook-laden, synth-heavy dance cut carrying a playful, sex-positive lyric. The pulsing club track "Good Time" appeared shortly afterward, and both numbers appeared on the 2023 EP The Sex. In 2024 Smith unveiled the full-length What's Wrong with New York?, which included "Girls" alongside the 1980s-flavored post-punk single "Perfume."