INXS: Full Moon, Dirty Hearts : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

After a four-month tour of pubs in the villages and townships of their native Australia, it was inevitable: INXS are getting back to their roots. On Full Moon, Dirty Hearts, the 12-legged group has tried to sand off the glossy pop veneer they've borne since the mid-'80s, when Kick (not to mention MTV) catapulted them into the dance-rock stratosphere. But before the awards shows, the paparazzi and the model girlfriends, INXS were a pretty funky live band.

On some of Full Moon, Dirty Hearts – the group's 10th album, recorded on the Isle of Capri – it shows. "Cut Your Roses Down" thrusts like dancing hips; "The Gift" spreads into a long, raw, messy rocker; Chrissie Hynde's backing vocals give the bluesy title track a nice grimy touch; and "I'm Only Looking," about curiosity and temptation, features a squeaking horn, menacing guitar and the wanton refrain "taking me deeper and deeper."

But elsewhere, INXS sound like they're dressing up in other groups' costumes. "Days of Rust" (whose lyrics – "Dirty money/Washed rich/Suck me, honey/It's a cinch" – are less racy than silly) has the fuzzy guitar and post-punk monotony of Big Audio Dynamite. Michael Hutchence's smooth, deep vocals on "I'm Only Looking" resemble Bryan Ferry's. And on "Kill the Pain," Hutchence sounds as if he were actually mimicking Hunky Dory-era David Bowie. Thankfully, on "Time," with its guitar and vocal counterpoint, the band sounds like itself, and Hutchence resumes the instinctive swagger that made him a video star.