“Kick” by INXS

One of the most entertaining pop-rock LPs of the 80s.

This album review revisits one of the most entertaining pop-rock LPs of the 80s, led by a frontman who was a force of nature,

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Genre: Pop, Rock

Label: Atlantic

Release Date: October 19, 1987

Vibe: 😍😍😍😍😍

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I don’t know of a rock album that makes better use of a lead singer’s effortless sexuality than Kick, the 1987 blockbuster that transformed INXS from college radio upstart to stadium headliners. The arrangements are catchy in a straightforward sense, and the band around him is tight, but the late Michael Hutchence is the star of this show. He yelps, sighs, and whispers his way through songs that wouldn’t work nearly as well without him at their center. Take “Need You Tonight,” the lone Hot 100 chart-topper off this record and the only one to the group’s name. It’s a timeless track, even though there isn’t much going on. Hutchence is barely singing. It’s more like breathy spoken-word poetry recited over a funky beat and delicious guitar lick, but it works incredibly well. You can’t help but be drawn to his seductive persona. You can’t fake or phone in that kind of charisma. It either comes naturally or it doesn’t.

Born in Sydney, Hutchence split his time between Australia and Hong Kong growing up. He met Andrew Farriss, multi-instrumentalist and songwriter for INXS, in high school, and by the mid-70s, the duo had formed a band and were playing the Aussie bar circuit. They often opened for countrymates Midnight Oil and would later be signed to a local indie thanks to that group’s manager. INXS scored their first American hit with “The One Thing” in 1982 and, a couple of years later, released their first track with real star power in “Original Sin.” Produced by Nile Rodgers, it offers a first glimpse at the potential they’d realize on Kick, with shimmering synths and airy guitar floating above beefy, gated toms and snares. You even have Daryl Hall singing backup vocals on that cut. It’s a lot of fun.

The band’s actual breakout moment came in 1985 following the release of their fifth LP, Listen Like Thieves. INXS had already conquered Australia by that point and needed a way into the pop-rock market stateside. The turning came through “What You Need,” the record’s lead US single that eventually peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard chart. Despite being produced by Chris Thomas, you can hear the residual effect of that Rodgers collab lingering in the air. The funky guitar chords and the humongous-sounding gated drums are all elevated by a Hutchence vocal that drips with swagger. It could honestly be released today and still make a dent in whatever remains of pop radio, a telltale sign you’ve built a transcendent sonic foundation. The only way onwards and upwards was to go bigger, and they did just that with Kick.

Right off the bat, you know INXS isn’t screwing around. Like U2 or Prince, I’m sure they knew they had an opportunity to blow their commercial potential wide open, and every moment on this record exists to maximize that potential. “Guns in the Sky” is a hyper-infectious opener, with that slippery beat swaying in perfect harmony with that layered guitar opening. It was never selected as a single but easily could’ve cracked the Top 40 had that been the case. It also sets an energetic tone builds and builds for the rest of the first side. INXS fans or that era of pop hits will know most of these by heart. “New Sensation” is a sensational, arena-sized anthem that is permanently etched into my 80s rock Mount Rushmore. Between the singalong chorus and that iconic central, I’d go so far as to say it’s the hookiest, catchiest song on the entire record.

The next track, “Devil Inside,” may be the most impressive conceptually. You put those lyrics in most singers’ hands, and they come across as creepy at best, if not Bundy-esque. Instead, Hutchence’s performance is sultry and confident, turning the protagonist into a bad boy who’s intriguing and inviting enough that you’d actually go home with him. After that comes the aforementioned “Need You Tonight,” a party staple that’s still being ripped off. The story goes that Farriss made a cab driver wait over an hour while committing the guitar and drum sequence to tape before jetting to Hong Kong. The lyrics were penned quickly, and the band treated the song as a bit of a throwaway compared to the other tracks on the album. It just goes to show that, as much as artists, producers, executives, and other stakeholders think they know about consumer trends and what styles will be hot next month or year, you can never really know what will stand the test of time.

Most casual fans think this collection of songs is more or less what Kick has to offer, but they couldn’t be more wrong. “The Loved One” is a supremely underrated take on a Rolling Stones type of blues rock, complete with a Mick Jagger lilt to Hutchence’s vocal. “Wild Life” is the looser cousin of “New Sensation,” almost like a snapshot taken a few hours (and drinks) into a memorable night out). “Mystify,” the last of five hit singles to emerge from Kick’s tracklist, is among the most polished, incorporating more than a little 60s soul into the composition. Then, appearing out of the shadows like Harry Lime in The Third Man comes “Never Tear Us Apart,” the best and most heartwrenching ballad the group ever committed to tape. The writing is beautiful, but without Hutchence’s perfectly calibrated delivery, lines like “’Cause we all have wings/But some of us don't know why” hit so much differently.

The mercurial singer’s life ended far too young, passing away at the age of 37. As I sit here and write this sentence, I’m only four years younger than he was then. The coroner’s official ruling was suicide under the influence of drugs and alcohol. However, this assertion has been disputed in the years since, in part because Hutchence never left a suicide note. Leading up to his death, his behavior had become more erratic following a traumatic brain injury and his affair with British TV personality Paula Yates. A stop-you-in-your-tracks talent like his makes you wonder what could’ve been. What heights would he and INXS have risen to had his life not been snuffed out so suddenly? No one can say for sure, but if he and the group had another Kick in them, the world would be much, much better for it.

PS: The moment when they played “Never Tear Us Apart” at Hutchence’s memorial is worth (re)watching, if only for a few seconds. It’s guaranteed to give you goosebumps.

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