Mutilate Us

At 26, Brian Sokel has played in numerous bands throughout the years, but has stuck most notably with the band Franklin. Their brand of rhythm-centric, post punk developed over the course of eight years and branded them genre bending, albeit confusing and elusive. After the recording of what was to be Franklin's final release, Sokel found himself working on four-track recordings of songs that didn't fit the mold of what was, by then, Franklin's sound. Finding himself with several cassette tapes of these four-track demos, Sokel brought on Michael Parsell (a longtime friend who has spent time in such bands as Frail, Goodbye, Blue Monday and most recently The Science Of) to add dimension to the then, acoustic only, songs. Brian and Michael began writing and arranging songs to create what would become their first full-length album. With Terrence Yerves and the Meatlocker studio in Philadelphia, they spent nearly six months in the studio developing, arranging, and orchestrating songs. Nearly a dozen musicians, all from local Philadelphia bands such as Aspera Ad Astra, Franklin, The Science Of, The Unfixers, and Lenola assisted in creating a 13-song, multi-layered slice of time. "Mutilate Us" was released March 2001 to much critical acclaim followed by tours with American Analog Set and Rainer Maria.