The Orange County Supertones aren't new to the horn-flavored post-ska rock scene. With six years of recording and touring under their belt and a barrage of catchy and uplifting tunes to satisfy the heart and soul, it only baffles my mind why this DVD single is perhaps the shortest of all the Fall 2002 releases.

The Supertones released their fifth, and possibly best, studio release this October entitled Hi-Fi Revival which served as a giant leap in the right direction for the evolution of this band's sound. The Hi-Fi Revival DVD offers merely a taste (perhaps a taste of a taste) of the band's efforts and merely a peek into the work that went behind the recording of this excellent project. The DVD opens with a montage of live clips with the addictive "Welcome Home" serving as its backdrop. As it fades out, the simple-yet-effective menu pops up and we're given the simplest menu of the releases I've seen yet. The fun and amusing video for the band's smash single "Superfly" is a must as a feature on the disc and fits nicely among the items here. Next is the really cool and often funny behind the scenes look at the filming of the video which sadly clocks in at just under 3 minutes. We're treated to shots of Dan and Ethan cutting up among various looks at the actual filming of different parts of the video and comments from the cast and crew. The video for the live rendition of "Return of the Revolution," a selection from their live album released earlier this year, fits well among the features as it is composed of mostly live shots from random dates on their 2001 tours.

Regretfully at this point we're more than half-way through the DVD. "The Writing Process" featurette runs about two and a half minutes and feels more like a trailer for what should be a much longer feature. Surely there could have been a lot more footage and information to discuss about the album's new direction and lyrics and experience with Brent Bourgeois that what was said. As a fan I was really disappointed it wasn't much longer. This was pretty much the same for the often hilarious montage of clips put together for the just-over-2-minute-long "Recording" segment. I felt like a good 20 minutes to half an hour had been shaved off from the DVD or just held back from being released. It was more of a tease than anything. It would be awesome to have a feature-length DVD with pranks and jokes from the road or live show bloopers, interviews with each member about the songs and the work behind them, their experiences with the band and fans, etc. There could have been so much more meat, but here we're given the lean cut.

Still in all the project is a good peek into the lives and work of the Supertones, but fans will just be aching for more. All we can hope is that there will be.

- Review date: 12/15/02, written by John DiBiase