“James Domestic Is An Acquired Taste” by James Domestic (Earth Island Books)

We cannot talk about modern punk rock poetry without mentioning James Domestic. For many years, he has delivered literary works that both entertain and educate those willing to take a moment to read a proper snapback book. With “James Domestic is an Acquired Taste,” he returns with another healthy dosage of good old poetry, illustration, and photos from the tour with one of his bands. It’s a tradition Domestic follows with many of his works, and while many readers would assume this looks like some sort of a zine, trust me, it’s a proper poetry book, and a damn good one for sure! Another thing worth pointing out is the attention to every detail. From a beautiful cover artwork to illustrations and photos stacked inside, “James Domestic is an Acquired Taste” looks so eye-pleasing and well done. With each new book, Earth Island Books pays even more attention to every single aspect that makes their books so beautiful, organized, and easy to read. It has a lot to do with the way their books are printed, and it seems like the publisher put extra effort here. Not to mention the outstanding illustrations by Andy Riley, who did an amazing job depicting selected poems and illustrating the cover art. He did a tremendous job, making “James Domestic is an Acquired Taste” even more pleasing to the eyes.

Also, this book is packed with an excellent foreword by Atila the Stockbroker, and quotes from some prominent names in the underground punk rock scene, like Steve Ignorant, Dick Lucas, and Jerry A, as well as fellow poets and colleagues. If you’re stumbling upon James Domestic’s poetry for the first time, these quotes will give you an idea of how respected he is on the underground punk rock scene. After the preface, written by James Domestic himself, you’ll enter his poetry world headfirst and never look back- or at least until the last page of his book. The thing about poetry books is, either you read selected works and move on, or you keep the book for hours without letting it go until the last page. “James Domestic is an Acquired Taste” falls into the second category because it’s such an entertaining, enjoyable, and fun read that you could finish reading in an hour and a half or maybe less. However, during that time, you’ll be enchanted by James Domestic’s creativity, talent, skills, experience, and knowledge. His style falls into the spoken word, free verse, and socio-political categories, but when you read his poetry, it seems so fresh, unique, innovative, smart, and funny at the same time.

Unlike many poets, who always aim for quantity, James Domestic always goes for quality. If we put all clever witiness and brilliant wordplay together, Domestic’s poetry hits you like a dialogue with the best friend or acquaintance in the pub, spilling facts and spreading truth about modern politics, hardships of life, and all those important or unimportant, but definitely ridiculous things that bug us almost every day. Like those times when you wake up in the morning in a good mood, fully rested, and ready for the world, but then, all of a sudden, so many problems, situations, and circumstances arrive at once, and you all of a sudden want to go back to bed until everything gets fixed by itself. His poetry usually points out those issues and then, as a conclusion, offers the middle finger as a proper solution, because, as much as you are right in those situations and much more intelligent, you also have to be smart enough to realize that not so many people are capable of comprehending. So, yes, a middle finger in the air to the world is sometimes (if not always) the only proper solution if you want to get through the day without losing those tiny pieces of nerves you still have. In “James Domestic is an Acquired Taste,” do not even tend to explain what a proper solution is, as he criticizes particular individuals, groups, moments, moods, situations, and circumstances, but you’ll instantly get the idea that he always wanted to send a proper “piss off” to modern society and move on with his life. And most importantly, he writes with such precision and finesse, from the very bottom of his heart, resulting in a raw, unfiltered, hilarious poetry you could easily read to yourself or in front of a crowd. It works both ways effectively, proving that James Domestic is a master of spoken word, free verse, socio-political, and punk rock poetry. If you love poetry from the bottom of your heart, but seek more of a streetwise, in your face critique of modern society than sterile, academia-approved poetry, “James Domestic is an Acquired Taste” will be right up your alley.