Welcome to The Scouting Report, a monthly list of 10 Minnesota artists with exciting new projects, as curated by our local music team. If you like these picks, check out The Local Show on Sundays from 6 to 8 p.m., hosted by Diane. For more music discovery from The Current, watch for Jeffrey Bissoy's The Come-Up, highlighting new local hip-hop and more. Also, each Thursday, The Current's music director Jade picks great new tracks from around the world.

Tearra Oso 

Tearra Oso’s PREZ is a great gardening soundtrack. It combines Afro Boricua bomba percussion, funky guitar, and gorgeous layers of vocal tracks into an album rooted in the elements. Sometimes it’s grand (“Earth II”), and sometimes it’s mournful (“Philando”). But mostly, it’s fun and as nourishing as a steady midday rain. Oso earned a 2021 Cedar Commission and will perform at Indigenous Roots Cultural Arts Center on Saturday, May 14, at 6 p.m. - Cecilia Johnson

Hurrah a Bolt of Light 

New York City transplant Will Farr has rolled fairly under the radar in the Twin Cities music scene. We suspect that could end soon considering the tremendous quality of his project Hurrah a Bolt of Light The boisterous singer has powers of epic rock ‘n’ roll proportions – a kind of blockbuster sound that has attracted media like MTV, NBC, and ESPN. His latest project, AN/ANIMAL, features one narrative woven into four songs, accompanied by a visually haunting short film that depicts Farr as a disturbed religious leader. - Diane 

Sleeping Jesus 

Sleeping Jesus might be the most outstanding Minnesota indie rock band based outside the Twin Cities or Duluth. They have all the right elements, including an adept ensemble that knows how to produce sonically driven instrumentation and vocals that seamlessly blend. Their sound is pleasantly hypnotic. Perfect for chill-out background noise or a tranced-out live show. The Winona band will release a new record, Leave the Party Early, this July, produced by Mike Noyce and mastered by Grammy nominated engineer Mike Bozzi. - Diane

Catbath

If Catbath is the Twin Cities answer to Superchunk (and what a fine answer they make), then their just-released-out-of-the-blue third LP Invisible Racecar could be considered the local group’s answer to Foolish. Burnishing Catbath’s ebullient power-pop melodies with layers of emotional complexity and pathos, Racecar also finds that band exploring new sonic territories with Death Cab-esque acoustic strumming, and the occasional intrusion of thunderous, borderline-metal Melvins riffage. Making things all the more bittersweet, Catbath slipped into an “indefinite hiatus” sometime in the past year, according to their social media, and have no current plans to play any shows in support of the new record. Catbath, if you’re reading this: Your album is super rad, we miss you, and we hope to see you soon. - Zach McCormick

Cindy Lawson

Cindy Lawson is enjoying the fruits of her labor in two parts this month. Her band, the Clams, released the retrospective The Complete Clams in early May which features a New York Dolls cover of “Human Being.” Lawson will also release New Tricks on Rum Bar Records on May 20. Fading in, and fading out and back again at will, “How It Feels” is a risky neat trick with a deliberate rock song at the heart of an angular jumble. It doesn’t so much demand attention, but rather claws it from you whether you like it or not. Chances are, though, that you will like it. The pieces are gutsy and fired up, and reflect someone who sounds fed-up with their surroundings, and yet hopeful of what is to come. She will be at HiFi Hair and Records on May 22 along with Whiskey Rock & Roll Club and Tragic Hands for the album release. - Youa Vang

Jest

If you manage to listen to Jest without thinking of Nirvana or Pavement, then you are a liar and delusional. This new project from Eric Carranza, Andy Sanford, Pratik Singh, and Matthew Rhyner is not simply manifested from rock that came before them, though. Their newest single “Get Lost” is heavy, fun, gritty, and bows to the heaviest of riffs. The rest of the debut album Behaviors is brawny, bouncy rock ‘n’ roll with thick bass lines and thoughtful touches (that tabla on “Get Lost”!). Songwriter Carranza has performed in many different projects (Hot Date, Yeti Steady) around the Twin Cities — most recently supporting Lady Midnight at Icehouse — but this is a standout. Can’t wait to catch them live. - Cecilia Johnson and Youa Vang

Time Room

Bristling with spiky staccato guitars and whiplash-inducing lurches in tempo and meter, Time Room’s debut Something New should be manna for locals who like it loud and weird. “Noise rock” doesn’t feel quite right as a descriptor. Although their riffs get heavy, Time Room sound as brisk and agile as an army of tree frogs compared to the lumbering Amphetamine Reptiles that came before them. “Post-punk” or “No Wave”? Sure, but expect a higher degree of dance floor difficulty thanks to the hiccuping time signatures nodding in the direction of skronkmeisters like Metz and angular locals like Uranium Club. Album standout “No. 1”  surges with knifing guitars and delay-soaked vocal whoops borrowed lovingly from the Oh Sees’ playbook. - Zach McCormick

AirLands

AirLands are a band that could ease a soul’s distress with their glimmery, soft, and delicate music. Perhaps you’ve heard of Oregon’s Stars of Track and Field, whose music was featured in TV shows such as Grey’s Anatomy or Greek in the late aughts. After that group’s lead singer Kevin Calaba became a Twin Cities resident, he started AirLands as a sophisticated indie project that could also be considered a modern folk band. Calaba is an expressive vocalist with a familiar sounding voice — think Justin Vernon (Bon Iver) meets Mat Kearney. The Current debuted their unreleased track “Sleepwalkers” on The Local Show on May 1. - Diane 

The Tender Years

With a sound that spans 30 years of friendship and collective work, the Tender Years have convened to release a new album, After the Batteries Die. Their single “Emerald Lloyd” leans toward carefree and cast-off, and yet this music is a razor-sharp splinter aiming straight for the heart. You don’t make songs like this without caring. The band will celebrate the new record at the White Squirrel Bar on May 20 and share the stage with Briefcase and Petty Larcenists. - Youa Vang

Ultrabomb 

So far, team-up projects between musical legends have been one of the few silver linings to be mined from the mountain of colossal bummers of COVID-19. Ultrabomb is a somewhat unexpected pairing between Hüsker Dü and Porcupine bassist (and committed mustache ambassador) Greg Norton, with Irish-born Canadian folk-punker Finny McConnell and longtime UK Subs drummer Jaime Malone. Norton and McConnell first began corresponding after McConnell covered “Makes No Sense at All” with his band The Mahones several years back, and you can clearly hear McConnell’s affection for the Hüskers’ catalog on Ultrabomb’s “Stickman vs Hangman.” Charging forward with a sound that sits between “Something I Learned Today” and “Suspect Device,” Ultrabomb plan to release a debut album and tour Europe this summer. - Zach McCormick