INXS “INXS” released 40 years ago today, October 13th, 1980, in Australia. Their debut album (the version here on Atco Records is the US release from ‘84) is fairly decent early new wave but without a lot of the big anthemic pop sounds they’d become known for on subsequent releases. There’s still tons saxophone, of course, some simple swirly synth that skews more organ than the 80′s synthpop sound, and a lot of ska influences (like on “Doctor,” “Jumping” and the very silly “Roller Skating”). There’s also notes of other pop/new wave influences like The Jam (on “Just Keep Walking” which they released the sole single from the LP; it went to #38 in Australia), Joe Jackson (“On a Bus”) and The Cars (“In Vain”). Overall, it’s a record that any INXS enthusiast should have in their collection but INXS is for most not a record that will see a lot of turntable time.