In the mid-1990s, Orange County's electronic-music scene included fewer than a handful of worthwhile artists, with the list not extending much past dance-minded HYPE and new-wave-style Scotland Yard.

Today, bands such as Wirebox, Sunset Room, Nektarine and Color Theory are creating music as original as it is accessible. Most use a combination of acoustic instruments and electronic keyboards, as well as sequencers, to mix pop, rock, classical and world music.

Channel is among the bona fide leaders of the local electronic rock scene. Singer-guitarist Mark Rhodes and keyboardist-sequencer Todd MacKenzie have been together since the late 1990s, playing hundreds of shows and building a following in the United States and Europe. But the addition of a third member, drummer Billy Holmes, has elevated the band's live edge.

"Drums add an organic part to it," said Holmes, who joined Channel in September 2002.

Added MacKenzie: "I'm all synthesized; we wanted to get that live snap (with a drummer)."

Channel has been compared to every artist from Depeche Mode and the Church to Moby and a-ha, but such comparisons offer only a glimpse of the trio's force.

Rhodes' powerful baritone is equal parts Jim Morrison and Peter Murphy; he's comfortable singing quiet ballads as well as propulsive rockers.

"Todd writes all the music, arranges it and gives me the track. I add voice (including lyrics) and guitar," Rhodes said.

"It's all done with computers," MacKenzie said of the recording and sequencing progression.

At the House of Blues on Monday, the band tore through a commanding 10- song set showcasing the trio's solid abilities to forge rock and electronica into something as beautiful as it is powerful.

The release of the band's first CD, "Burning Inside," in 1999 paved the way for Channel to perform on the FarmClub.com television show, as well as at the Philadelphia Music Conference. In February 2002, Channel toured as the support band for the Britain's Mission UK on the British leg of its "Aura" tour, and again with the group later that year when it came to Southern California.

Channel's latest four-song EP demonstrates that the band's collective talents have only strengthened.

"Diamond Eyes" and "She Knows" are among a growing number of songs by the band that demand repeated listening.

As an electronic power trio, the group offers compelling shows, where even in laid- back Orange County, fans crowd near the front of the stage on a Monday night and move to the power of the music.

"We can rock harder," Rhodes said.

Channel performs at the Detroit Bar in Costa Mesa on July 17; at Spaceland in Los Angeles on July 19; and at the Red Devil Lounge in San Francisco on July 25.

The band will open for Wayne Hussey of the Mission UK at all three dates.

For more information, including details about specific shows, visit www.channel-music.com.

Listen to a song from Channel's latest CD-Single.