[3][4][5] Formed in 1974 by singer/songwriter and guitarist Stephen Burns, who would cut classes at the University of Memphis to rehearse and record, the group spent a two-year period in which it would write music and rehearse in a warehouse at Shoe Studio and then record at Ardent Studios when it had enough songs.

Burns' high school friend, Tommy Hoehn, who led the power pop group Prix, was brought in for backing vocals.

The trouble is, these serve a shamelessly and perhaps permanently post-adolescent vision of life's pain, most of which would appear to involve gurls.

Returning to New York, the band opened for acts as disparate as Chuck Berry, Johnny Thunders, and Peter Noone.

As one critic would write of the album, "the band is in great form throughout, sounding tighter and fuller than on the debut, and there are more than a few excellent songs here, especially 'Alice, Please Don't Go,' 'Danger,' and 'Go Faster.

David Branyan pursued a solo career recording again at Ardent Studios, before attending Columbia and Yale universities.

But Burns' fondness for British-influenced pop hasn't left him, and if [the album] is a very different kettle of fish from the classic Wanna Meet the Scruffs?, it suggests that he still believes a nice melody and a good hook are the keys to the universe -- and who knows, he may well be right.

"[2] Burns reformed The Scruffs in Glasgow with local musicians Bobby Kildea, Stevie Jackson and Stuart Murdoch of Belle and Sebastian renown, Zachary Ware, guitarist with The Proclaimers, Francis MacDonald of Teenage Fanclub and BMX Bandits fame, and Wil O’Brien, guitarist for Los Angeles-based power pop bands The Andersons!, and Receiver.

Although now principally living back in the United States, Burns continued to work in, variously, Glasgow and Edinburgh as well as Memphis.

Although The Scruffs primarily toured in Europe and Japan, the group played its first concert in Memphis in over 20 years in 2006 while working on a new album at Ardent.

One critic wrote that "Burns is still writing terrific songs with glorious melodies and superb hooks, which is the real link between this music and his past," calling the album "a fine and well-crafted visit to smart pop heaven that proves Stephen Burns isn't running out of interesting ideas.

In his AllMusic review, critic William Ruhlman wrote that "Burns retains his talent for catchy melodies and his lyrical fascination with young women .

"[15] Encouraged by the response to Conquest, The Scruffs reconvened in Edinburgh in early 2010 to commence rehearsals for another album, recording the material at Ardent in November 2010.

One critic described it as "a McCartney-esque pop tour de force that sounds fresh and surprisingly fierce coming from a band in its 36th year of existence," stating that it showed why Burns "might be the most vital remaining member of the now somewhat legendary Memphis power-pop scene of the 1970s.