Working My Way Down was originally intended as a trio project twenty-five years ago between Mike Stinson, Johnny Irion, and the deceased Andy Bulter-Jones that has finally emerged under the collaborative banner of country rockers Stinson and Irion. The two have a long history in many bands but also of making music together starting in the ‘90s in Los Angeles mostly as the L.A. band, the Space Heaters.
Irion is the one-time frontman for ’90s rockers, Queen Sarah Saturday and also delivered a couple of New West albums with his former wife, Sarah Lee Guthrie. Stinson has played with Lucinda Williams and Christina Aguilera as well as having penned songs for Dwight Yoakam and Willie Nelson, among others. He worked with Jones for three years at Polygram Music Publishing, striking a deep friendship. Jones came from a different musical genre, playing in the progressive rock band Bigelf, but he wrote a number of songs that he gifted to the Space Heaters. Part of the mission of this album is to give Jones, their secret weapon, his due. The album was mixed by Johnny’s neighbor Paul Koldiere (Radiohead, Morphine, Hole) and features guest appearances by members of Chatham County Line, Social Distortion, and Jones’ longtime Big Elf bandmate Damon Fox who now plays with The Cult.
in addition to the five songs penned by Jones, Stinson contributes three and Irion two. Irion plays guitars, piano, and harmonica while Stinson, known mostly as an acoustic guitar singer-songwriter in recent years, also gets back to his first love, the drum set. Stinson brings the country element. Irion brings the rock n’ roll impetus. They’ve been touring the record to favorable acclaim already; not at all surprising as gleaned immediately from the opening Jones-penned track, “The Bottle and Me,” featuring Irion’s slashing axe and the visceral, pounding rock that evokes Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, The Bottle Rockets and those kinds of bands that almost seem like an artifact these days. The title track, also from Jones, follows. It’s a tune that Stinson feels was Jones’ confession to his fiancé about his predicament and what she was getting into. “Ponderosa Pine,” from Irion is more melodic, less dense than the previous two, and is a showcase for the unison harmonies between the two principals. The bittersweet “Only Friend I Ever Had” has Stinson and Irion at their emotional peak in singing one of Jones’ tunes. Rather ironically one of the purest sounding country songs, ‘LA Cowboy,” imbued by Irion’s piano and Damon Fox’s organ, was also written by Jones.
Stinson’s tunes are mostly countrified, and reflective of his clever wit. He begins the defiant “Taking No for an Answer” this way – “I’ve been taking no for an answer for too long/I’m making like Hank Snow/ I’m moving on.” Stinson’s “Last Chance To Hide From Love” has that authentic country cry-in-your-beer feel. Guest Dave Wilson’s harmonica leads into Stinson’s “Brand New Love Song” where “The worst thing about it is you.” It’s one of the best made-for-radio songs on the album. The Jones’ rocker ‘Stranger Here Myself” closes, giving the album a bookend symmetry.
Working My Way Down has some terrific songs and a little filler. Yet, despite the reputable names associated with recording and mixing, the sound quality is just too dense in terms of backing instrumentation. Dialing that down would put the symbiotic harmonies of Stinson and Irion in even sharper focus.
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