The history of Mrs. Grundy reads like a laundry list of eclectic (if dubious) brushes with mediocrity. During the five or six years that we were together, our band counted among its members: a music business attorney, a published author, a tour guitarist for a current major label act, a guy who plays incidental music at New York Rangers home games, a working actor and voiceover artist, a guy who went on to play drums with the Genitorturers and Amen, and an Ivy League golf coach whose team's victories were so noteworthy that the New York Times ran a story on him.
We found ourselves sharing the stage with a slew of other bands whose level of fame, while also dubious, was still slightly greater than ours. Among them: Joker Five Speed, Slunt, Trash Light Vision, Downpore, GSX, Stage and Baby Ray. We got upstaged by MiniKiss at Don Hill's.
Some of the American press wouldn't cover us because we weren't adequately "edgy." Some of the European press wouldn't cover us because we were too "edgy."
Whatever.
We were one of the first bands to be featured in SomethingAwful.com's "Your Band Sucks" column.
We got blacklisted from Arlene's Grocery for consistently failing to draw a crowd. Somehow, though, our music got us some label attention, however fleeting. We managed to make three records on our own where most bands can barely get through even one. Once, in Virginia, we were asked for our autographs. Once, at a gig in upstate New York, two girls disrobed completely and made out with each other (we can't confirm whether this had anything to do with us). And though we ultimately never achieved much tangible success, we did manage to provoke the ire of some douchebag frat boy in Long Island who proceeded to faithfully—under the cover of tough-guy internet anonymity, of course—stalk us by e-mail over the course of about two years.
Some nights, we killed it. Some nights, we sucked. But we always had fun, we made some great friends, and in the end, that's what it's all about. When it stopped being fun (see the above-referenced MiniKiss incident), we called it a day.
In late 2005, three of us morphed the band into another one called The Border Cops. We write songs with titles such as "Rock Your World (With My Penis)."
Thanks for stopping by, and we hope you enjoy the music. A lot of this stuff is of poor sonic quality, but we did the best we could with what we had and feel that we at least deserve a shiny gold star for effort. The songs are free for downloading, so keep checking back, as we'll be changing them up from time to time.
Press:
"This shit is lame enough to go platinum, so you might as well start hating Mrs. Grundy now. In a few months, assuming these guys aren’t as ugly as they are boring, you’ll probably see them on VH1 between Sugar Ray and Maroon 5."
— SomethingAwful.com
"More hooks than a bait-and-tackle shop."
— Revolver Magazine
"A cleverly conceived concoction of noisy, ballsy alt-rock and rib-tickling wise-ass lyrics that'll have you laughing while you strum your air guitar."
— Aquarian Weekly
"Heavy rock that bursts the support beams of comfortable limitations."
— Independent Songwriter Magazine
"Reminiscent of the best of Bad Religion, Foo Fighters and the Replacements."
— PopBang Radio
"Combining the warped power-pop of Adrian Belew, Bob Mould's guitar assault, and the biting lyrics of Graham Parker, Donald Fagen and Colin Moulding, Mrs. Grundy is a happy slap in the head. Matt Scharfglass is a spectacular lead guitarist, with a fiery, fluid style reminiscent of a young Clapton, but he can also crank angular in true post-punk fashion."
— Demo Universe
"Sometimes a record comes along and just knocks you on your ass on the first listen. The tongue-in-cheek attitude of Mrs. Grundy bears little resemblance to that of the annoying power-punk poufs prattling on the radio, and instead pokes fun without giving an inch on content and instrumental performance; a glorious celebration of humor and joyous rock that REALLY rocks. Their songs are tight as a drum, restrained in all the right places, and performed with such high energy that it's almost impossible not to like this band. Equal parts Samiam, Bad Religion and Foo Fighters, Mrs. Grundy is flip but ferocious, at home either in a seedy rock joint or on rotation at your local radio station."
— IndieMusic.com
and we'd love to have them. i sent mueller an email about that a few months ago and never heard back. we're setting up shows for the fall now, let's do something. email us - thevelmas "at" thevelmas.com
OH my good ness. How've you guyz been?!?? 'member me?;) Rich, I heard u moved up to Columbia 4 work - good stuff. We gotta hang...PS. My website will be up round the New Year *taragirl.com* of course and the record's droppin in March. Would u consider making it 2 my record release in illadelph?? I'd be so honored. all LOVE ~ t
Thanks for the add, I love your music. If your ever in the area look me up, I'm a booking and promoting agent and I can hook ya up with a show or two. Happy Thanksgiving!!!
