Pull back the red velvet curtain of the Los Angeles underground scene and centerstage you will find Dagger Polyester. Their daring mash up of punk, glam, and art rock paves the way for a new wave of rock music that defies any effort of categorization. The result is a sound that is not bogged down by gimmicks and cliches - a subversive authenticity that finds harmony in the contradictions and is reflective of Dagger’s own journey in their gender transition.
Dagger’s music is inspired by the peculiar, the theatrical, and the unconventional. Influenced by everything from Roxy Music to Kenneth Anger, their songwriting investigates the thematic tension between performative masculinity and queerness. This seeming clash in subject matter is unified in their art by being a vessel for sharp, but playful satire. For Dagger, you can point at a problem and scream at it or you can dance with it until it gets dizzy and falls on its head.
Foxes Magazine has described Dagger’s sound as “far from retrospective - [where] grand, sweeping melodies contrast with… rapid, attention-deficit-genre-switching render[ing] the music futuristic and beguiling… no genre is left unadulterated. Kids just can’t sit still anymore and Dagger is no exception.” Featured in an Alternative Press article detailing respected LA photographer Richie Lee Davis’s new fanzine, Davis states how Dagger’s unmatched style “shows you that their vision is truly their own.”
Dagger’s energy in their music is also emblematic of their electric live performance - one that parodies the effortless and magnificent glam rock personas of the late David Bowie and Lou Reed. Donning intricate leather attire and caked in dismantled drag makeup, Dagger is a force to be reckoned with. Their presence is almost cartoonish - one moment ecstatic, feral and menacing, brimming with punk energy; the next flowing, graceful and arresting, lulling the audience into a hypnotic state until the savage cycle starts all over again.
Such a provocative and riveting spirit has led Dagger to play alongside the likes of Yves Tumor, The Dare, Weyes Blood, Alex Camerson, The Lemon Twigs, Warmduscher, Tchotchke, and many others. Their singles “Lipstick No. 425” and “Perfect Honeymoon” have received play on NTS and Southern California’s beloved college radio stations KXLU & KCBS.
Dagger’s upcoming record is produced by Chris Robinson of The Black Crowes. With a tentative release of 2025, Dagger will take their impassioned live show on the road - their magnetic energy bursting through the drudgery of the underground scene with color, image, and life.