Rating: 7.8/10
The long-awaited debut album “What’s Wrong with New York?” from Harrison Patrick Smith, professionally known as The Dare, was released Sept. 6, bringing together synth heads and pop fans in an album that really doesn’t fit either genre.
“What’s Wrong with New York?” is pure, unfiltered sleaze. It’s purposefully pretentious, self-aware, witty and even almost annoying at times. The Dare certainly confirms that the attention surrounding “Girls,” a song off of his EP, was warranted, certifying that he is more than Charli xcx’s hype man.
The 10-track album is a personal manifesto and anti-intellectual criticism of the elite club scene in New York, with most compared to LCD Soundsystem and brat.
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Its opening song “Open Up” is sleazy and trashy in the best way. It lets listeners know exactly what they’re in for — a hangover after listening.
“It’s just rock ‘n’ roll, you won’t die,” Smith said in the song about an album that is clearly not rock and roll.
The album continues with “Good Time,” a song recycled from “The Sex EP,” a project that failed to bring The Dare the kind of success he was hoping for.
The song is everything The Dare is good at — debauchery, delinquency and depravity. It’s expertly crafted, reminiscent of early 2000s club music.
By the album’s third track, “Perfume,” the schtick does become a bit repetitive. Smith’s style is unique, obnoxious and nostalgic, but one can’t help but wonder by this point in the album if he’s a one-trick pony or if this is part of the bit.
“Girls” is quite possibly the best song on the album, which admittedly is somewhat disappointing. It’s clear that this is Smith’s sweet spot — and good on him for finding it — but depraved delicacies like “Girls” topple the competition with his attempts at ballads on the album.
In all fairness, an album with a lot of great tracks that sound similar is still a good album, but one can’t help but wish that songs like “Girls” weren’t the only trick up Smith’s sleeve while listening to the remainder of the project.
“I Destroyed Disco” changes the game. Smith experiments more with synth in this track while maintaining the bass-filled, beat-heavy music, making it a welcome change from what was a repetitive first half of the album.
Perhaps most importantly, the song is funny and serves as an opportunity for Smith to show off his wit. As with much of his work, Smith shows that he loves a good innuendo.
“You’ll never reach my level/ So don’t chase/ Save it/ Wait does anyone know where the base is?” Smith asks, introducing the bass to the song.
The futuristic outro to the piece is exactly what the EDM scene needs right now. The song is new and perhaps a bit nerdy, but overall true to the genre, and that’s what makes it one of the better tracks off of the album. Of course, it wouldn’t be a Dare track without a bit of pretension.
“What’s a blogger to a rocker?/ What’s a rocker to The Dare?/ I destroyed disco,” sings Smith in a line that has made its rounds on social media.
Smith tries to be a bit more earnest in “All Night,” and while it’s refreshing to hear him drop the bit for a millisecond, the song falls a bit flat musically.
A love letter to New York, “All Night” is musically a bit childish. The synth-pop feel is clearly a bit strange from Smith and perhaps could have used a second set of eyes. The piece almost feels like a Gorillaz song before the editing process.
“Elevation” unfortunately suffers from the same problems. This is a shame, as these songs are the first on the album that gives listeners a view of The Dare behind the cheap blazer and plastic sunglasses.
“Sometimes I wonder/ If you’re really out there (Are you really?)/ In Paris, or London/ I still believe and I still care,” says Smith.
While not as musically skillful as the rest of the album, it’s certainly interesting to hear Smith talk about drugs and the New York club scene in a non-glamorous, less pretentious manner. That said, those looking for a song to only kind of listen to with their head out the window on the expressway should consider hitting play on “Elevation.”
“Movement” brings listeners back to the feeling that they are at an apartment party and dancing on the couch after a couple of shots. The song is quick, fun and, best of all, nostalgic. It combines everything that was great about the album, leaving out the boring repetitiveness or cheesy, poorly-produced ballads.
The song almost acts as a warning of the effects of drug abuse, with Smith mentioning his feelings of dissatisfaction before taking drugs at the beginning of the song. Despite this, the cowbell-infused party track combines two of The Dare’s strengths — making club anthems and criticizing elite New York asceticism.
While “What’s Wrong with New York?” could have gone through another couple of rounds of editing, is true to its messy self if nothing else. It’s important to remember that The Dare’s style is a revival of something that went out of style over a decade ago — it’s bound to have some kinks.
Overall, the project is fun and earnest, though it may take some digging beyond the purposeful pretension to get to that. The best advice for listening to this album is to take it at face value and let it be fun. Anything beyond that unfortunately falls short.
