Peter Bibby nails the loud/ quiet grunge dynamic.

‘Whyalla’ is the raucous new single by the Western Australian artist.


With towering, distorted riffs that lurch into clean chorus sections, Peter Bibby and his Dog Act band nail the loud/ quiet grunge dynamic on ‘Whyalla’. Taking a leaf out of Ty Segall’s book with an added flavour of garage rock, this song spreads across six and a half minutes of crunchy tones and thumping drums. It’s a gnarly, gripping ride into Bibby’s universe, a fine introduction for an artist preparing to unleash his third album on the world.

Penned as a tribute to South Australia, Bibby wrote ‘Whyalla’ after a friend requested a song they could play on a road trip. Drawing inspiration from friends living in the city and “with a lot of help from Wikipedia”, Bibby’s ode to Whyalla includes a mid-song breakdown, making room for a reverential speech of tributes to some local heroes. He gives a shout out to a couple of sporting legends before settling on Alessandro Parisi, who set the world record for continuous pinball play in 2007.

Bibby’s half-screaming, whacked out vocal style really sells this song; his manic recalling of several facts about South Australia’s third most populous city (This song is an education!) clatter delightfully through the verses. The choruses offer a quick breather, as the mix simmers down while Bibby muses “Whyalla, why won’t you be my home?” before the crunch slams back in. It’s easy to imagine gazing out of a half-dropped car window as the Australian wilderness passes by while listening to ‘Whyalla’.