Review of Anthology of Emo (2 vols.) and Washed Up Emo (podcast)

Punk & Post-Punk

Vol. 10, no. 2: pp. 311–15 (2021)

Abstract

The Anthology of Emo (vols. 1 and 2) and the Washed Up Emo podcast are companion works, comprising interviews that analyze, discuss, and reflect on the emo scene of the late 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s. Tom Mullen, who edited the books and hosts and produces the podcast, has released over 190 episodes of Washed Up Emo since 2011 (as of this writing); most episodes are an hour or longer. The Anthologies and Washed Up Emo are some of the few available sources documenting (and, thus, legitimizing) emo’s history, and, as a founder of the long-running Emo Night NYC monthly series, Mullen has also fuelled emo’s nostalgia. He is the perfect person to be doing this work: although Mullen has come to know many of these musicians professionally through Emo Night NYC and working at several record labels, he is every interviewee’s favorite host: a knowledgeable superfan who went to all the shows, followed all the gossip on Makeoutclub, bought all the records, and still has all the t-shirts. Mullen does not draw larger conclusions from his many dozens of interviews; nonetheless, these are potentially rich primary sources for future oral histories or critical analyses of emo. Tom Mullen has become one of emo’s most recognizable professional curators and cheerleaders; his passion for and expertise in the subject are manifest throughout the Anthology of Emo and Washed Up Emo.