INXS - Kick

I remember seeing the cover for Shabooh Shoobah in the early '80s and trying to work out how to say the band's name. Without radio or video I just assumed it was pronounced inks. The band would slowly start to build here in Canada and "Original Sin" got quite a bit of airplay, and then came "What You Need" which was a pretty big song. I thought they were good, but there were a lot of good bands and I only had so much money. 

Kick was one of those albums that managed to connect with people in a big way. Fronted by Michael Hutchence who was simply mesmerizing and backed by an incredibly tight band INXS delivered a near perfect album. The timing could not have been better and the album would go on to move over 20,000,000 copies, almost ten times more than their previous record and it would be the band's high-water mark.

At the time I had no idea this was as big as it was. I knew who the band was before Kick came out, and while I knew it was a popular album it just seemed to be part of what was going on, and other albums released that same year by Roger Waters (I loved Radio K.A.O.S.), Pink Floyd and Whitesnake were a bigger deal to me personally.

I am not an uber fan to the point where I can comfortably spout off facts about the band and their catalogue. I did manage to see the documentary Mystify: Michael Hutchence that was riveting and tragic. All I really have as a reference is the music, and Kick to me encapsulates INXS. I wrote earlier it was a near perfect album, and I have to admit that's a bit of an overstatement but it is one hell of an album and I find myself still in awe of some of the songs. I mean, when it was good was almost otherworldly.

The album seemed to be around for ever. INXS would pull five singles off the record between 1987 and 1989, the last being my personal favourite "Mystify" and that would be in March of 1989 (thank you Wikipedia). It should have been a perfect lead in to 1990's X ... except it wasn't. Lightning seldom strikes twice and I recall being really dismissive when I first heard "Suicide Blonde" which was really unfair as it is a killer song, heck truth be told there are a lot of really good songs on X but even with the guys being outstanding in their field, lightning wouldn't strike twice.

Back to Kick. The album exuded swagger. One of the things I always loved about INXS was Tim Farriss' guitar work. I'm sure that brother Andrew and Kirk Pengilly the other guitar players were part of the sound, but I always assumed it was Tim who played the stilted staccato almost funky guitar chords that were aggressively front and centre. I loved his style of playing. It didn't make you want to get down to the groove, but rather puff out your chest and strut. He channelled musical swagger pure and simple.

A good example of the pushmepullyou (if you're old enough you just thought of Rex Harrison and the Pushmi-Pullyu) effect* is the opening track "Guns in the Sky" that is honestly the perfect opening song for the album. It's big, bombastic, and clunky. It always felt like a musical pastiche (I still think of it as an afterthought) before the album actually starts. Essentially it's like hearing the album's musical ingredients before being put together. It's really the only song on the album that felt a bit out of place.

It's really fun listening to this after so many years, it's a balance between the emotions conjured up by nostalgia, including my likes and dislikes, and the borderline old man I'm becoming who is trying to listen impartially and enjoy it for what it is. I've honestly listened to this more in its entirety over the last few days than I did when this was new. 

The album really was a big deal. 

* There is no such thing as the Pushmepullyou Effect ... it was supposed to be a clever conceit that was supposed to convey an unresolved tension that I just couldn't quite express properly.