Barrel Delux’s Coat Hanger Antenna 
myspace.com/helldamncraphttp://www.indiancasinorecords.com/BarrelDelux/ 
By Ken Shimamoto 
Call this one Vinny Pimentel’s Revenge. 
Barrel Delux’s guitarist-singer, who started his musical career in the early ‘90s, jamming in a backyard shack in Haltom City, has been taking a back seat in his various musical endeavors for years. In Hasslehorse, he played second fiddle to frontman John Frum, until Frum decamped for Seattle around the dawn of the Millennium. When he joined forces with ex-Dragworms/Tractor Trailer leading light Mike Bandy in an outfit that gigged as HellDamnCrap before adopting its current handle, Vinny again stood in the background while Bandy took the majority of the vocals and solos. With this EP, released on Frum’s Indian Casino Records imprint, Vinny finally comes into his own, singing lead on five out of six selections. 
Or maybe call it Farewell to Warehouse #58. 
Those in the know will recall that last April (was it really only a year and change ago?), Barrel Delux lost all of their equipment when the Haltom City warehouse they shared with the Me-Thinks was burglarized. The last two tracks on Coat Hangar Antenna were recorded in the warehouse and to these feedback-scorched ears, they sound every bit as good as the ones cut with Bart Rose at Fort Worth Sound. (Kudos to Mr. Rose for his sterling mixing and mastering job.) The disc’s cover art features Barrel Delux harmonica player Justin Jones’ photos of the warehouse from the outside and inside –- a nice tribute to a space which was a touchstone for the Haltom City-Riverside crew (whose history I’m in the middle of writing) for better than a decade. 
No matter what you call it, this EP is a finely wrought example of rootsy Americana -- with a difference. 
You might say Barrel Delux represents the mellow side of the Haltom City musical matrix in the same way the Me-Thinks represent the rockin’ side and Hasslehorse (as well as Frum’s recent Plantation To Your Youth disc under the name Transient Songs) represents the eccentric side.  On Coat Hanger Antenna, they walk a line between a relatively straightforward brand of what used to be called “country-rock” and the messy psychedelic sprawl of Bandy’s earlier units.  

Thus, the loping ballad “The Last Time” wouldn’t sound out of place on 95.9 FM The Ranch’s playlist – hey John, you got their mailing address? – and “Panchos and Pistolos” is a cinematic sounding Wild West narrative. But when Bandy’s distinctive adenoidal drawl wafts out of the mix on the out chorus of “Forty Creek,” a paean to the H.C. crew’s favorite whiskey, it sounds like a swamp gas apparition. The creature rears its head again on “Sixties Surf,” which isn’t a Dick Dale-style workout like you might expect but rather, an opportunity for Bandy to unleash his head-spinning wah-wah guitar prowess. Barrel Delux’s cosmic and earthly impulses coalesce best on the EP’s final track, “Potluck Last Supper.” Throughout, the rhythm team of Ratsamy Pathammavong (of the famous Asian Media Crew) on bass and Trucker Jon Simpson on drums provides a solid and supportive foundation for the songs.