PETER BIBBY’S DOG ACT REVEALS NEW SINGLE AND VIDEO ‘CALCIUM’ + NEW STUDIO ALBUM ‘MARGE’ OUT TODAY
Photo credit: Annie Harvey
“..Bibby is a master of the gritty earworm..”
- MOJO | 4 STARS
“Troubadour, rule-breaker, maverick, and sundry other adjectives pepper the work of Peter Bibby… the Australian artist sketched out some utterly unique climes, matching unkempt grunge-leaning riffs to moments of astute introspection.
- CLASH
"...Peter Bibby... dishes out rabid, rattling garage rock… the kind that can crack speakers in half and have you bouncing off the walls for the next 48 hours."
- CONSEQUENCE OF SOUND
“Bibby is a true independent icon, a freewheeling and wholly unique musician in both his character and his craft.”
- XPRESS
Today, Peter Bibby ushers in Marge, his third studio album with the disruptive Dog Act is available digitally and on limited edition blue 12” vinyl now via Spinning Top Records | Caroline Australia. To mark the release, the West Coast musical cult figure shares the raw and languorous new single Calcium and gritty visual accompaniment. Up next, the band will perform as special guests for POND at Freo.Social on Saturday 7 November with further shows to be announced shortly.
A scientific study meets sunset soundtrack, album closer Calcium is a soothing “until next time” kiss goodbye. “I wrote this song on the back porch of a mate’s place in Mt Lawley. I remember having read a lot of mumbo jumbo about the dairy industry at the time. The lyrics felt silly but the tune felt so nice to sing. Engineer Mitch pulled a real shifty on me and put my guitar solo in reverse, resulting in me being a happy boy,” muses Bibby of the track.
Directed by Peter Bibby and Billy Bowen (Work for Arseholes), the video for Calcium is both an exercise of willpower and a denture pageant. “The video walks you through a typical night for me at Mojos Bar, saying no to all drugs and alcohol, sipping my favourite drink (milk), losing games of pool, slapping ciggies out peoples hands and just hunting for some vitamins,” says Bibby of the video.
We now arrive at Marge, the long-awaited third LP from Peter Bibby. Much like the record itself completes a trilogy of sorts, Bibby himself notes that the album is one that centres around its own trilogy: “My poor mental state, my battered heart and my frustration. All to the tune of fun rock music.” Naturally. “The album very nearly took my left eyeball from me. You can hear an audio recording of this towards the end of Side B,” he adds.
Featuring lead singles Oceans and Whyalla, Marge is an album of splintered, volatile Australiana. Recorded with “Strawberry Pete” Gower and drummer “Dirty Dave” Taylor – Bibby’s third LP is a soundtrack to a surf movie where there's blood in the water; a dirt road leading to a dead end; the sounds of Diesels & Dust covered in... well, diesels and dust. “The Dog Act and I recorded this album in a week off in Perth between two Australian tours. We were match fit and full of beans. It features a selection of songs, some fun, some completely bloody miserable. It was made better by the involvement of the fourth Dog, Mitch McDonald, who engineered the record and offered endless energy and ideas. I love this record,” says Bibby of the album.
In case you were wondering, the titular Marge can be found on the front cover of the album. The grandma of Dirty Dave, she's huffing a dart on a beach in Darwin – just watching her corner of the world go by. “I felt there was no better image than a smoking nanna to be the face of this album,” Bibby reasons. In a way, he's right – Marge might seem genial and easy-going and friendly on surface value, but just beneath that lies something with an attitude and a defiant nature to it, not afraid to just let it burn. Bum one off Bibby, and let Marge tell you a story or two.
Peter Bibby’s rough-and-tumble approach and affable personality has gotten him plenty of mileage as a live act, performing at festivals such as Laneway, Falls and SXSW while also notching up his fair share of rowdy headlining shows as well. This has also translated into two well-respected studio albums: 2014's Butcher/Hairstylist/Beautician and 2018's Grand Champion. He's an artist that has been celebrated as inherently working-class and wholeheartedly independent – as commemorated by the 2018 documentary Chasing Palm Springs, which followed Bibby on a literal cross-country journey from Perth to Melbourne in a temperamental van.
Buy/stream ‘Marge’ here.
PETER BIBBY'S DOG ACT - TOUR DATES
Saturday 7 November | Freo.Social, Fremantle WA
*Special guests for POND
SOLD OUT
