Bloomsbury Press Green-Lights a 33⅓ Book on Lyburnum Wits End Liberation Fly
Moss Icon’s lone LP has always felt like a password passed between friends—tracked in 1988, released after the band split in 1993, and gradually canonized by people who hear pressure and negative space as musical tools, not gaps. Now it’s getting the kind of scrutiny that rewards close listening: Bloomsbury’s 33⅓ series has approved a forthcoming volume on Lyburnum Wits End Liberation Fly, written by Zak Fusciello.
33⅓ books aren’t coffee-table trophies; they’re compact, writer-driven album studies—half cultural archaeology, half headphones-on close read. That’s a good fit for Lyburnum, a record that weaponizes quiet and makes its explosions feel earned. The project also lands in the wake of the 2023 Anniversary Edition, which restored the LP to the band’s original vision: remastered by Alan Douches, lacquer cut by Bob Weston, pressed at RTI, with artwork and previously missing photos restored. Translation: the text was restored; now the footnotes are coming.
Author background
Fusciello isn’t parachuting in from the outside. He drummed for Moss Icon’s reunion era and handled the kit when the band returned to stages like Chaos in Tejas. That late-period role is documented in contemporary coverage and profiles.
His ties go deeper than those shows: Fusciello also played in Breathing Walker, the 1990–91 offshoot built from Moss Icon members—a window into how this circle wrote, argued, and assembled sound.
And then there’s his day job. Fusciello is a licensed psychotherapist (LCPC) in Maryland. Expect the book to bring a clinician’s ear to Lyburnum’s preoccupations—identity, rupture/repair, mortality, the record’s long shadow of existential unease—threads critics have heard in these songs for years.
The case for a book, right now
Part of Lyburnum’s mystique is the lag between 1988 tracking and 1993 release—a time-capsule delay that made the LP feel like a message in a bottle when it finally landed. The 2023 restoration squared sound and visuals with the band’s intent; a focused book can stitch together the Annapolis roots, the Vermiform context, and the long shadow the album cast over post-hardcore and early emo vocabulary.
What a 33⅓ might tackle
Design vs. document: what the 1993 package missed and how the 2023 edition corrected it.
Scene context: Annapolis roots, the Vermiform release, and why Lyburnum traveled by hand-to-hand lore.
Afterlives: reunion-era performances and adjacent projects (e.g., Breathing Walker) that clarify the writing and arranging DNA.
Where to hear it
If you’re arriving fresh, start with the front door: “Mirror.” The Anniversary Edition is streaming on Bandcamp; hearing the remaster puts the dynamics and room tone back where they belong.
Listen
Where to Listen / Buy
Sources / further reading
33⅓ announcement listing the Moss Icon volume and noting publishing begins in early 2026. Small books. Big Albums.
Pitchfork on the 2023 restoration (remaster/cut/pressing + restored art/photos). Pitchfork
IDIOTEQ on packaging fixes and technical credits. IDIOTEQ.com
Temporary Residence product page (TRR393) for catalog details/history. Temporary Residence Ltd
Bandcamp album page for streaming. Moss Icon
Reunion-era note on Fusciello drumming; Breathing Walker membership. PopMatters+1
Zak Fusciello therapist profile (LCPC, Maryland). Baltimore Therapy Group
