Run It Back: Ian MacKaye & Al Jourgensen's Short-lived 1987-88 Industrial/Hardcore Punk Side-project Pailhead (Wax Trax! Records)

Run It Back is one of the more infrequently published "recurring" columns here at The Witzard: honestly, I don't even know when we published one of these last... but what I do know is that the column title is inspired by a Nottz Raw-produced Asher Roth track of the same name, which expertly samples The Misfits' "Return of The Fly." Minor Threat were East Coast Straight-Edge Hardcore/Punk contemporaries of both The Misfits and Glenn Danzig's next band, Horror Punk pioneers Samhain, which even briefly featured Minor Threat guitarist Lyle Preslar. For me, personally, Black Flag, Minor Threat, Fugazi, The Misfits, and Samhain were my bread and butter while exploring Hardcore/Punk as an angsty 15/16-year-old during the age of Napster and P2P sites. Now, I know Minor Threat/Fugazi frontman and DC-based Dischord Records co-founder Ian MacKaye—like most well-traveled Punk/Hardcore musicians—has always been part of a slew of short-lived bands, such as Teen Idles, The Evens, Embrace, Egg Hunt, Skewbald/Grand Union, Pailhead, and most recently, an as-yet-unnamed band with his wife/drummer Amy Farin and one-time Fugazi bassist Joe Lally. However, I had never heard of one of MacKaye's lesser-known groups, Pailhead, which I, actually, just heard about for the first time yesterday.


Pailhead was only active for about a year from 1987-88 and consisted of Ian MacKaye, along with Ministry's Al Jourgensen AKA Hype Luxa, Paul Barker AKA Hermes Pan, and Bill Rieflin, as well as Naked Raygun drummer Eric Spicer. For Pailhead, Al Jourgensen explored a unique blend of Industrial & Hardcore/Punk, which he would later, explore further on a similarly-minded Ministry side-project, LARD, with former Dead Kennedys frontman Jello Biafra. Al Jourgensen told Pitchfork in 2008 that Ian MacKaye once described the Pailhead dynamic as, "we're going to the same place, except, you're taking a taxi and I'm driving my own car." Pailhead's cumulative releases include 1987's "I Will Refuse" 7/12-inch B/W "No Bunny," 1988's "Don't Stand In Line" 7-inch B/W "Ballad," "Man Should Surrender" 7-inch B/W "Anthem," and an EP entitled Trait released on 12-inch, cassette, and later, a 6-track 1993 CD collecting all of the aforementioned releases. Pailhead's various releases were, also, re-collected on two different Ministry/side-project comps. TRAX! BOX & SIDE TRAX! in 2014-16 on Chicago-based mail-order label Wax Trax!/TVT Records. Bands such as Soulfly, Spinnerette, and Unwritten Law have all covered "I Will Refuse" and Pailhead's music has since been featured within everything from Cold Case to Mat Hoffman's Pro BMX.