Lover On the Dial, the debut from The Stone River Boys fit in well with Country Club by John Doe and the Sadies and Peter Wolf's Midnight Souvenirs. This should come as no surprise as The Stone River Boys are made up of members of The Holisters, The Hacienda Brothers, and Charlie Robison's backing band. Love on the Dial is a perfectly serviceable album which straddles the line between country and rock with a side order of funk and blues. It is packed with wall of sound instrumentals and tight groves that make it an enjoyable listen. The only minor flaw is that the album occasionally lacks in substance what it attempts to make up for in style. This makes it somewhat flatter and less sublime than some of its predecessors.

Love on the Dial starts off with the throw-away "Bluebonnet Blue," which relies on Scott Esbeck's driving bass to propel it along, which only serves to remind the listener how much better Stephen Bruton sang it. The album really finds its footing on the second track. “Can I Change My Mind,” a Tyrone Davis cover, is a joyous tribute to the funky, rock/blues/country pattern that made The Hacienda Brothers Americana legends. The booty shaking continues on the tongue-in-cheek third track, which tells of a new dance craze sweeping the nation—“The Struggle.” "Love on the Dial" is a straight up 70's funk song about a dying love affair, marred only slightly when Barfield overshoots his wails and ends up yelling. However, Barfield dials it back for the solidly country “40 Acres” and winds up, pleasantly, sounding like Charlie Rich covering a Lefty Frizzell ballad. Their slowed down, soulful rendition of "Take A Giant Step" is thankfully divested of any hint of The Monkees. However, it does maintain a cool 1960's vibe, sounding like an outtake from the Easy Rider soundtrack. Dave Gonzales takes over lead vocals on “I Think I'm Gonna Make it, growling “it ain't so cold and lovely, like it used to be, back when you were never kind to me” as an insult to a past lover. Gonzales once again takes lead vocals for the polished country waltz of “still feel the feeling” and he finds the perfect mournful, bluesy note for a ballad about a man morning the love of his life. The highlight of the album is the stunning “Martha” which finds Barfield warning “you can change the way you're living when the times are good, but you can't change away the past though you wish you could,” in his skillfully seductive baritone. The album closes as unforgettably as it began, with the song "Boomerang," which seems to exist only so the band can wedge in as many references to the album as possible and pass it off as wit.

The Stone River Boys are the latest entries into the sub-genre of country/funk. Unfortunately, the album comes off as a two-funk-songs-to-one-country-song collection. This is a rookie mistake, but one shared by other people who attempt to fuse genres on albums but never songs. And, to the degree that it is what it is, the album works. For the most part the funk songs are good funk songs and the country songs are good country songs. However, the album lacks the greatness that comes with the ability to fuse genres within the scope of a single song. In a year that has already seen albums from Tift Merritt and Shelby Lynne, two women who fuse the genres of country, soul and funk beautifully, Love on the Dial suffers from that lack.

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