Listening to Weather the Storm by Man the Change is like playing a game of "Spot the Influence." The Brooklyn, N.Y. band plays Fat Wreck-style punk, and that's all nifty, but listening to the tracks just makes me want to put on something like Lifetime or NOFX. That's not necessarily a bad thing, and Weather the Storm is a solid debut, but right now the band is stuck in the realm of the adequate.

Consider opener "The Horseshit Zone". The song starts off like an Explosion track–super fast and aggressive. It's a setup for a massively catchy outro in which the band chants "This is our time" over a cut-time beat. It works, but the whole time I kept thinking, "This is exactly like something Dr. Dan Yemin would do. I'm gonna go spin Paradise." Followup "Bowser's Breakdown" is more in the NOFX vein–snotty, snarled yells and crunchy guitar ride galloping drums. "Useless" and "Get Me the Clippers" is more in the Flatiners style–a little more intricate in the guitar work, with a more propulsive beat.

Still, there's something to be said for the band's formula. Man the Change has a firm grip on breakdowns, gang vox and "whoa"s. In fact, the group even utilizes an impressive dual-vocal attack on tracks like "Put Stevie at Second" and "Bowser's Breakdown". Man the Change has clearly demonstrated a mastery of the classics, and perhaps in time they'll write a record that equals or rivals their influences. But as of right now, the parts do not equal the whole, and Weather the Storm is superfluous.