San Diego-based pop-punk band Off By One performed a worn-out 25-minute set in front of a dwindling audience Friday evening at the Creepy Crawl.

At first glance, Off By One’s fusion of punk rock mentality and pop sensibility appears to be a formula straight out of the math book that Green Day initiated and Blink-182 capitalized on.

In theory, it spells success, unfortunately, in the fussy world of teen pop culture; Off By One explains it all, that is, off by one year. All jokes aside, gone are the darling pop-punk bands pleading about the pressures of puppy love and having to grow up. 2002 is the year of the great garage band hype.

Give credit where credit is due. Off By One presses on, following their passions, bringing their girlfriends and consistently touring, performing dates on this summer’s Warped Tour and several fall dates. Unfortunately, when the hype has been twice removed, there is nobody around to listen.

After local group Form Follows Failure finished Friday, the attendance dwindled to about 25. Repeated urges for everyone to “Jump, C’Mon Jump,” and decrees of “We Are Rockstars” left the crowd with a sour taste in their mouth. Despite song after song of crunchy riffs and sing along choruses, a well seasoned stage presence and a cover of Natalie Imbruglia’s 1998 hit “Torn,” the crowd appeared unimpressed and largely uninterested.

Without any relevant substance to their music, Off By One proved to be victims of a played-out trend in pop music. Save your money for the Strokes and the White Stripes.