Boston punks the Shods were led by singer/guitarist Kevin Stevenson, a longtime mainstay of the local music scene whose past projects included Formicide, Only Living Witness, and DuckDuck. He formed the Shods with bassist Roy Costa and drummer Scott Pittman in 1993; two years later, the group issued its debut album, Here Come the Shods, on their own Poorhouse label. Costa left the band in the wake of the record's release, and with new bassist F.J. Ventre, as well as second guitarist Dave Aaronoff, the Shods signed with the local MCA imprint Fort Apache to cut Stop Crying. On the eve of the disc's release, however, MCA pulled out of the deal and Fort Apache was forced to shelve the project, which was finally issued four years later on Acme in 2001. Amidst the turmoil, Ventre exited, and with new bassist Craig Silverman the band returned to Poorhouse for 1998's Bamboozled, Jilted, Hornswoggled + Hoodwinked; only Stevenson and Pittman remained for the follow-up Thanks for Nuthin', recorded with new bassist Dave Livingston and keyboardist Jay Buckley. After Thanks for Nuthin', the Shods almost came to a halt when it was learned that Stevenson was battling multiple sclerosis, but the guitarist adjusted his playing and learned to work around it, releasing Tippy in 2003. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi