Local Radar highlights bands that the local team at The Current is spinning heavily at their desks. You'll be able to preview a track from each as well as hear them on The Local Show and Local Current.

Jim Ruiz Set
Don’t be mistaken: this is the same ol’ Legendary Jim Ruiz we’ve always known. But this go-around, the name has been modified to be the Jim Ruiz Set, perhaps a way of explaining to listeners that time has passed in this band’s history. It certainly has — this is our first album from Ruiz in 14 years, and serves one of three purposes.

First, it’s a trip down memory lane for those who grew up with the band in the Twin Cities in the ‘90s. Secondly, it’s a re-introduction to those who haven’t listened to Ruiz in a long time. And lastly, it’s an introduction to a new generation of local music lovers who have just come of age and can really appreciate what he has contributed to the history of Minnesota music.

And in a wonderfully surprising fashion, we’ve learned that this new album is basically coming out of thin air. Sent to press just this week, the Jim Ruiz Set’s Mount Curve Avenue comes out next Tuesday, October 23. Nobody was expecting this to happen. It will see a release on the new collective Korda Records -- a label from which we can also expect new records from Typsy Panthre next week and Ocean Blue and The Starfolk in January.

The good news besides the re-emergence of Jim Ruiz? The album is really good. Here’s a first taste with “Would You Be There.” They play next on November 11 in Northfield at The Chapel.

Stream: Jim Ruiz Set - "Would You Be There" from Mount Curve Avenue

Gloss
Here’s a brand new band in the community, and big thanks to the guys in Phantom Vibration for spreading the information around to get people on board. Gloss is what you would expect from the name: swirling guitar lines doused in dream pop inspired reverb. The song “Front Porch” really hearkens back to the Pains Of Being Pure At Heart, an act we haven’t heard from in what will be two years at the start of 2013. So let’s let Gloss fill the void that Pains has left in their absence.

And Gloss succeeds in an impressive fashion. For a group just starting out, this five-piece is already getting written-up across the blogosphere, and they have a great support base between students at the UofM and Macalester, both schools which have been busting out some hot new bands at an alarming rate.

Stream: Gloss - "Front Porch"

Carroll
I have been long awaiting the news of a formal release from Macalester-based Carroll after hearing rough demos at the beginning of the year. Those were promising, and obviously others agreed: the band won the chance to record at Humans Win! with Lance Conrad. They’ve been working hard on a debut EP called Needs which will be out at some point this winter, although exact information isn’t available yet.

However, the first single “Sticks” is getting its premiere here on the Local Current blog as well as on the Local Show Sunday night. It’s a much more polished affair, and there is something so interesting about Brian Hurlow’s voice to keep people captivated. His slight slur is a much more subdued Alec Ounsworth and his bandmates Charlie, Charles, and Max know how to properly accompany Hurlow’s timbre.

Stream: Carroll - "Sticks" from the Needs EP