INXS - Underneath the Colours
#531
By Robert Sliger
October 19 1981
INXS
Underneath the Colours
Genre: 80s Rock
Allen’s Rating: 2 out of 5
Robert’s Rating: 2.5 out of 5
Highlights:
Stay Young
Horizons
Underneath the Colors
Night of Rebellion
Michael Hutchens - vocals
Andrew Farris - Keys/guitars
Jon Farris - Drums/percussion
Tim Farris - Guitars
Kirk Pengilly - Guitar/sax
Garry Gary Bears - Bass
Like several friends I knew in high school, I became a musician because of INXS. Specifically, “Don’t Change” from SHABOOH SHOOBAH. I hunted my apartment for every flat pillow I could find, arranged them as snare/tom/cymbals, and beat the hell out of them for literally hours. I remember at the time that I wasn’t interested in the “musical” part of it (though that song still gets me pumped every time, forty years and thousands of listens later). I wanted to figure out how to play that fast. Jon Farris had a unique sound that kept surprising me with unpredictable hits and oddball accents other new wave artists weren’t even trying to pull off. Plus: Rototoms!
Underneath the ColoUrs is competent and entertaining, if a bit milquetoast. INXS’ second album features every good thing the six mates from Australia would further develop into the enormous stadium-sized chart-toppers in the mid-to-late 80s: quirky arrangements, snappy grooves so tight you couldn’t put a piece of sheet music between the gaps, and cryptic lyrics soulfully presented by Michael Hutchins’ charismatic voice. What’s missing are the consistent hooks, tightly-focused stadium presence, edgy, blue-eyed funk of THIEVES, and (especially) KICK. Later 80s, INXS created a sound that invited you into the party, then kept you dancing without pause. Ballad? What’s that? Underneath the Colours is more aloof; that welcoming vibe was not yet part of their otherwise substantial musical toolbox. They’re trying hard here, but the band had not yet worked out the easy-going authority of their best recordings.
The production is clean and the playing energetic. I am reminded of Thomas Dolby, Thompson Twins, and a bit of Oingo Boingo. Especially early The Fixx, another Aussie band who found brief success in the early-to-mid 80s only to be buried by the grunge juggernaut of 1991.
“Stay Young” Kicks (sorry/not sorry) off the album with sing-songy guitar and vocal hooks wrapped in the super-human-tight groove of Garry Gary Bears on bass and Jon Farris’ drums.
“Horizons” veers from moody, syncopated verses to alternating graceful and bouncy choruses. It’s a fun listen that lacks the more elegant and rousing tonal shifts they would perfect on LISTEN LIKE THIEVES and KICK.
“Underneath the Colors” previews most of the sonic direction Hutchens and Company would mine for gold in the coming years.
“Night of Rebellion” features a hot mess of ska energy and rock slash that somehow works despite the lack of focus.
“Barbarian” is ONLY A LAD-period Boingo without the quirk.
“All Those Years of Learning” apes Thomas Dolby and Thompson Twins without quite nailing either’s special sauce.
The rest of the tracks are pretty standard filler—nothing offensive, tired, or lazy. In fact, the effort this young band put into these performances suggests the chart dominance they would enjoy for the next eight years. INXS was on its way, and the experimental restlessness of albums like Underneath the ColoUrs was an essential step on the journey to radio ubiquity.
