"INXS" is the debut studio album by the Australian rock band INXS, released on October 13, 1980, through Deluxe Records. The band recorded the album during midnight-to-dawn sessions in 1979 and 1980, balancing their studio time with an intense performance schedule, averaging two gigs a day in Sydney pubs.
The album features contributions from all band members: Garry Gary Beers (bass guitar, double bass), brothers Andrew (keyboards, guitar), Jon (drums, keyboards), and Tim Farriss (lead guitar), alongside Michael Hutchence (lead vocals) and Kirk Pengilly (guitar, saxophone, backing vocals). Co-produced by the band and Duncan McGuire (ex-Ayers Rock), it includes the single "Just Keep Walking," released in September 1980, which became INXS's first Top 40 hit in Australia. Although the album peaked in the Top 30 of the Kent Music Report Albums Chart, it didn't gain international recognition until 1984.
INXS formed in 1977 and released their first single, "Simple Simon," in May 1980, which debuted on TV in Simon Townsend's Wonder World. The album was recorded at Trafalgar Studios in Annandale, Sydney, with a modest budget of $10,000 from Deluxe Records. Hutchence later reflected on the album, noting its naïveté and the band's struggle for a distinct sound, while Tim Farriss highlighted the rebellious spirit captured in the lyric “Shove it, brother / Just keep walking.”
The band's early music showcased a new wave-ska-pop style, and they quickly established themselves as a formidable live act, performing almost 300 shows in 1981. During this period, they released another single, "The Loved One," a cover of a 1966 song by The Loved Ones, which also achieved success in the Top 20.
