Named after an obscure character on “The Simpsons”cartoon series, Roxy Monoxide was formed in 2002, quickly coming to the attention of powerpop fans throughout the Southland. After eight years and several lineup changes, the band’s run comes to an end Dec. 18 with a special 5 p.m. show at Humphrey’s Backstage Lounge. Though Roxy Monoxide was a quintet with female vocals for much of its run, the last year has been with the current lineup of founding members Scott Samuels (vocals, guitar) and Scott Southwood (drums, vocals), alongside Darko Petrovic (bass, vocals) and Tim Bennett (guitar, vocals). “Between all these singers, we’d done many shows as a four-piece and had gotten some very good feedback, so we decided to remain a four-piece after our last singer, Coree Levy, left,” said Samuels. The reasons for the band’s split are the usual creative differences and constant membership turnover, he said. “As the band has gone on, and we’ve all gotten older, it’s become more difficult to maintain a focus on original music and be able to play out regularly,” Samuels said. The end came when Darko decided to leave the band last month. “After three bass players, four singers and three guitarists, it seems like this band has had nine lives,” Samuels said. “When Darko told us he was leaving, Scott Southwood decided he would leave too, since he didn’t want to sit through several months of auditioning and training yet another new band member on the song list. And who could blame him? As Scott put it, ‘The fat lady has sung her song.’” The band released an EP — “Intuition” — in 2007 and its lone album, “Another Day, Another Episode,” in 2009. The band also had tracks on two volumes of the International Pop Overthrow compilation series, also playing the related festivals in Los Angeles and Orange County. A mainstay of San Diego’s music community for almost two decades, Samuels moved to San Diego from Chicago in 1988, joining in 1991 his first local band, Dave’s Rhythm Slaves, which later became The Snails. Since then, he’s been a part of groups like Kitten’s Pharmacy, Recommended By Doctors and Split Focus before founding Roxy Monoxide. Samuel said he plans to continue in music post Roxy Monoxide. “Don’t know what I’d do if I didn’t have a band situation to play in,” Samuels said. He now fronts a cover band — A.M. Forever. “Having that outlet has made the end of Roxy a little more bearable, but I’d still like to have an outlet to perform my original music,” he said. To that end, he said he is working on a solo CD with help from Bennett, with the hope of starting a new band soon. Meanwhile, Petrovic will join alternative country band Rio Peligroso, while Southwood intends to take some time off before a returning to the local club scene. Samuels said he is hard-pressed to narrow down band career highlights, but said he is “really proud that, although it seemed we often flew under the radar on the local club scene, we achieved some recognition in the power-pop genre and occasionally some nice writeups in places like powerpopaholic.com, the San Diego Troubador and the Orange County Register. Southwood said he is also proud of his time in the band. “Even when the audience numbers were light, I can’t remember a time when anyone simply mailed in a performance,” Southwood said. He said he’ll miss the camaraderie and “the clowning around during practices, just hanging with friends.” Bennett agrees. “It’s a real treat to get to play great music with cool people that you actually like,” Bennett said. “I made three new friends here. I’ll miss playing with them, but I’ll also miss hanging out with them every week.” ROXY MONOXIDE • Sunday, Dec. 18 at 5 p.m., Humphrey’s Backstage Lounge, 2241 Shelter Island Drive. • For more information, visit www.humphreysbackstagelive.com.