When the electro-house craze started hitting the states a few years back, long before Britney's producers were scrambling to get that sound on her chartbusting tracks, there was already a band who could do it live--such a foreign concept for a genre that seems so robotic and computerized. But, that's been tagline for Chicago's power trio Future Rock since they began their musical journey at the beginning of the 00's: doing things computers do...live!

With fuzzy walls of synth waves, driving bass and drums, and a penchant for making their fans go nuts, Future Rock has carved out their own little niche in the world of live electronic music. Bassist Felix Moreno, keyboardist Mickey Kellerman, and drummer Darren Heitz have never played by any rules, first taking the pattern set by acts like Boards of Canada or The New Deal, and veering off into their own dark-house direction, and then capturing the essence of live-electro but doing it with their own signature intensity that crowds at festivals and clubs across North America find irresistible.

The fifth spot on TheUntz.com's 2011 Digital Sampler is held by the title track from Future Rock's latest EP Nights (available for free at futurerock.net). The hooky dance tune features great personal friend of the band, Michael Harrison Berg of Van Ghost, on vocals--belting the real party rock anthem. Glittering synths are paired with the irrepressible drive of the battery. A fuzzed-out and groove-laden cut, "Nights" penetrates the bands usual gruff veneer for an upbeat, triumphant club banger. With Van Ghost joining Future Rock at the already packed North Coast Music Festival, there's a good chance that a live performance of the number is in the works...

Future Rock - Nights