Dealing With Damage: The London Particular
(Serial Bowl)
LP | CD | DL
Out 27 Feb 2026
Dealing With Damage have grown their sound beyond the post-hardcore for which they are known for their daring rather than difficult third album says Nathan Brown.
Described as “Proto Next Wave exponents” (no, I don’t know either), Dealing With Damage have unleashed their third album recorded through 2023 and 2024. Across the first two albums, DWD established themselves as purveyors of music inspired by the Washington DC “Revolution summer”, that first wave of “emotional hardcore” which we now have to call “post-hardcore” so as not to be confused with corpse make-up adorned adopters of the word “emo”.
To hell with the cliche of a “difficult third album”, Dealing With Damage have gone with daring instead. In the spirit of those DC bands who pushed the boundaries of hardcore, DWD have expanded their own scope. While you can still hear some of that post-hardcore sound lurking in the background (and I’m thinking specifically Soulside) the new Dealing With Damage sound is a step up.
It’s as if they are a much bigger band (like, as in there’s loads of them, not as in more successful) with keyboard and brass saturating the sound. The keyboards give a touch of a psychedelia trip to the big bright layered production you’d expect from indie or stadium rock artists. For some reason it keeps making me think of later stuff from The Saints and there is still something of the technical approach of The Ruts to be heard here and there. Whatever you want to term it, the new sound is pretty infectious toe tapping stuff, as evidenced by The Inconvenience Of Democracy (great title!).
The London Particular apparently takes its name from the original phrase used to describe what came to be known as ‘pea souper fogs’ in the capital as far back as 1820.
Out on Sunderland’s Serial Bowl Records label.
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Words by Nathan Brown. You can read more from Nathan on his Louder Than War archive over here.
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