Who will you kiss at midnight?
Inside The Dare’s notorious indie sleaze parties
New Yorkers love a good queue. Arriving thirty minutes before the door at Webster Hall on September 5th, you wouldn’t be surprised to find yourself in a line extending around the block.
Harrison Patrick Smith, better known as The Dare, was the latest hype in the scene. A former substitute teacher in New York, Harrison’s career took an unexpected turn when he began performing songs written during the COVID-19 pandemic.
I came across his sleazy electro track “Good Time” in early 2023 through a post by London-based meme-maker Poundland Bandit (@poundlandbandit). Fast forward a few months, I found myself watching him take the Avant-Garde stage at Pitchfork Music Festival Paris, where a devoted groupie had traveled across the Atlantic to see him.
The buzz surrounding The Dare truly grew this summer. His collaboration with Charli XCX on the single “Guess” thrust him into the limelight, a rise fueled by a subsequent remix from Billie Eilish. A wave of TikTok videos—many mimicking his signature black suit and tie look—followed, setting themselves to the viral refrain, “I like the girls that do drugs / Girls with cigarettes in the back of the club,” from his breakout debut single, “Girls.”
A party for the Brat girlies
Outside Webster Hall, the queue was a sight in itself. The mostly 21-year-olds with nose piercings were draped in a mix of ’90s soft grunge and 2000s glitchy pop aesthetics—think pearls, corsets, fishnets, mini skirts, and platform heels. Young, intentionally messy, yet immaculately dressed. Baby, it was a Brat party.
Standing in line was more than just a prelude. In fact, these queues often double as some of the best places for meeting new people in a city where socialising happens within invisible, tightly held bubbles. While waiting, I was adopted by a group of college girls who eagerly offered company and more.
The specific demographics of the ex-sub’s fanbase were more apparent at his live-streamed listening party in early September, held ahead of the release of his debut album, What’s Wrong with New York?
The crowd, overwhelmingly made up of 5’2” ready-to-go-out girls in their shades, excitedly gathered in a bright studio loft inside a rather abandoned building in Chinatown. The location was near the infamous Dimes Square, a micro-neighbourhood referring to both a place and a concept—a genre, a subculture, something too broad to pin down.
Contrary to his seemingly snobby exterior, Harrison paced between his fans, sharing a quip or two and expressing genuine appreciation for those who showed up to hear his project. In casual chit-chat, he specifically praised Malice K, the music project by Alex Konschuh, who was invited to perform on the event’s second night.
The real deal or a fake buzz?
Now inseparable from the revival of NYC’s indie sleaze movement, Harrison’s music has not been without its share of controversy. Frequent comparisons to early LCD Soundsystem have sparked debates on the band’s subreddit, prompting the moderator to step in for fear that the thread would “devolve into shitposting about The Dare” (see r/LCDSoundsystem).
While The Sex EP was an enticing blend of kinky beats and provocative lyrics, Harrison’s debut album indeed left me underwhelmed. Despite decent tracks like “Open Up” and “I Destroyed Disco,” much of the new material falls flat, weighed down by kitschy tones and tacky progressions.
At Webster Hall, however, the musician delivered a dynamic and sonically engaging live set. The stage was lined with a wall of Marshall speakers and “1,400 Dare fans” let loose amidst a storm of flashy strobes and atmospheric haze. The crowd went wild when he unveiled a remix of the instrumental track “Bloodwork,” featuring Charli XCX’s sampled voice murmuring, “Send them to The Dare, yeah, I think he’s with it.”
The same kind of late-night hedonistic energy is captured in photos from Freakquencies, the notorious indie sleaze parties regularly hosted by Harrison. The most recent, held at Knockdown Center on New Year’s Eve, teased, “Who’s going to kiss you at midnight?”
If anything, The Dare has resurrected one thing in New York that is allegedly the musician’s greatest fear: the comeback of electroclash.