You Can Be My Wave

I became aware of Harrison Patrick Smith, known as The Dare, through his production work on Charli XCX's brat extra Guess. The suggestive number is one of my favourite tracks of the year not just because of how bold and confident Charli comes across in both lyrics and performance, but because of how fun and fitting The Dare's production is. The modulated square waves sound so classic, the added bass in the song's second verse is a great detail, the blast of distorted bass for the drop is exhilarating, and the funky synth line that follows is supremely catchy. Wanting to hear more, I did some digging and found last year's Girls. It wasn't quite the high-gloss club rave banger that Guess was, but I wasn't at all disappointed to hear more of an electropop, dance punk sort of thing á la LCD Soundsystem or Yeah Yeah Yeahs. The vocal performance was pretty off the wall, and I found a lot of clever humour as The Dare describes the inclusive characteristics of the girls he fancies. I'll admit I wasn't smitten at first, but I was intrigued; I was looking forward to hearing more. Lo and behold, The Dare's debut album drops; the timing couldn't be better.

What's Wrong With New York? is trashy, lyrically depraved, and yet like candy, it lights up the senses, increases the heart rate, and is just plain fun. Surprisingly, this debut has quite a few highlights. The Dare becomes drunk with confidence off cheap cologne over buzzing bass synths and funk guitars on Perfume. I Destroyed Disco is full of confrontational energy thanks to the lyrical boasts (the Nirvana line was so out of pocket), the pulsating, rumbling bass, and the chromatic synth lines. The Dare drops the animated talking - that sounds quite similar to Justin Trosper of underrated post-punk band Unwound by the way - and sings on All Night. It's an ultra catchy piece of electropop that features bright synths and energetic gang vocals. Elevation sounds exactly as the song title suggests with rising synths, a softly pounding, steady kick, and some ethereal effects. The only drawback is that the song doesn't quite reach the stunning climax that the song seems to be building toward. Getting towards the end of the record, we have Movement which might be the most aggressive track of the collection sonically. This track has some super distorted sub bass drops, in fact, there's a moment in the bridge where it sounds like the speakers have actually blown. Smith has some pretty gnarly screams as well given that he's reached a mental brink from all the partying. And lastly, Girls had to be included as well. After hearing it in context with the album, it's clear that it is the strongest song here. I've almost become infected with it, spontaneously reciting the opening line of the song at various unprompted points throughout the day.

There were only two songs I didn't really care for. I don't think The Dare put his best foot forward opening the album with Open Up. It's obnoxiously rowdy, the lyrics are crass without being clever, and for some reason, it reminds me of Franz Ferdinand which is a band I never got behind. I find You're Invited to be even more obnoxious. The lyrics, the delivery, the hook, they're all frustratingly tedious. A lot of material on this album can be described as vapid, and therefore, it requires you to make a few concessions in order to derive any enjoyment from it. In the case of the two previously mentioned songs, I found it incredibly difficult to make those concessions. Despite these two hiccups, I found The Dare's debut to be a hedonistic, seductive, and debauchery-filled time.