“Bored of Being Kind,” the new album from Crawl Spaces, is a murky, moody blast of electronic punk. It’s a twisted, avant-garde trip that blends a handful of genres into an ethereal dose of outsider music. The group is a collab between Bilal Baeza and Jaxon Kolhoff. In this week’s edition of “Life Changing Albums,” where locals talk about seminal records in their collections, Kolhoff talks up a vital influence to his diverse collection —a 1993 compilation LP of provocative, Texas-made skatepunk.
What album comes to mind when you think “life changing”?
Jaxon Kolhoff: The album that helped shape me, and partially my music style, is “Fat Elvis,” by the Big Boys. I discovered this album via YouTube suggestions. It happened vicariously through my growing interest in The Minute Men. This was circa 2013, when I was about 14. I discovered this album on YouTube via the suggestion tab. When the song “Fun Fun Fun” came on, my dad walked into my room and said, “That’s the Big Boys.” He then took me to his record collection and showed me his original copy of their album “Fun, Fun, Fun.”
How would you describe “Fat Elvis” to someone who hasn’t heard it yet?
I’d describe it as a punk rock, skateboard-powered coming-of-age anarchy story written by gay men from Austin, Texas, who were built like linebackers.
Were you a diehard fan from day one, or was this a grower record?
This album had a pretty immediate effect on me. The heavy fast riffs, the kick-your-ass drums, and just the overall fun, eccentric lyrics had me fixed. Later, when I listened more closely to the lyrics — which jumped from stories about stealing from frat Boys to covers of Hollywood swinging by Kool and The Gang — I had become totally infatuated.
But really, the part of the album that touches me the most is just the overall song crafting that went into it, along with the story behind the band. The mostly-gay skater boys from Texas who loved punk rock was something that was really relatable to me at this point in my life – I was just discovering the most important parts of myself. The dedication was also very inspiring to me. Apparently, the band spent two weeks straight in the studio while Randy “Biscuit” Turner, the lead singer, was fighting a lung infection.
Do you think the album has impacted your own music?
This album has directly affected my music style by helping me understand that a big part of great songwriting is making a temporary door with your music. One that helps people enter your life, even for just a brief period of time. I love this album because it makes me feel like I’m skating empty pools in the desert with my friends. It takes me to The Big Boys’ life and I get to hang out with them for the couple minutes their song lasts.
When it comes to my music, my band Crawl Spaces just released our first full-length album, “Bored of Being Kind.” Our album release show was back in October at The Robin Theater. Currently though, we are working on a video game, which we are fully making and producing ourselves. I’m doing the script writing, voice acting and in-game music, while my band mate Bilal is designing the game and coding it. We’re hoping to throw, and play more, shows eventually once COVID has calmed down.
Jaxon Kolhoff’s Honorable Mention Albums:
Ol’ Dirty Bastard “Return to the 36 chambers”
Leon Russell “Carney”
The Meatmen “We’re the Meatmen…and You Suck!!”
Follow Crawl Spaces at facebook.com/crawlspacesband and listen on Spotify.
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