Moe Bandy has a love/hate relationship with cheating. Dressed like an aging sports commentator, his bemused look on the album cover says it all: he’s hurt by his cheating lover, but he knows he’s no better. This is to say nothing of the broken bottle in hand and the smashed jukebox.

Moe Bandy spent time in San Antonio as a sheet metal worker before making it in country music. The title track here allowed him to quit his day job, and it’s an instant classic. The first verse depicts Bandy’s realization of infidelity poetically: “If my backdoor could talk, it would tell me / That my borrowed angel’s been this far before.” Concluding that “my woman is the devil,” he swears off cheating songs, a sort of fourth-wall moment in acknowledging the country trope.

That’s until “This Time I Won’t Cheat on Her Again” (sure, Moe). We’ve also got “I Wouldn’t Cheat on Her if She Was Mine”, which is not the most impressive statement. Both are catchy songs though. “Smoke Filled Bar” is actually devastating: he’s crushed by the loss of his wife, drinking heavily to fill the void and lamenting the state his kids will have to find him in. Heavy shit.

Cheatin’ Songs ends with its most addictive cut, “Honky Tonk Amnesia”. Bandy blames it on the alcohol here: “She knows how [drinking] messes up my thinkin’ / How it makes me look for someone else to love.” The chorus is a soaring achievement in honky-tonk – pain fused with euphoria as Bandy hits “sometimes it lasts all night long!” This debut from Moe Bandy is short and sweet, and recommended to any fan of classic country.

Listen to I Just Started Hatin’ Cheatin’ Songs Today here.