Sex Tattoos & Rock ‘n’ Roll – Review

Sex, Tattoos & Rock ‘N’ Roll

by Scott Hefflon

A tat mag with a title like this is obviously a must get. 50 ink-stained musicians splashed over 100 pages complete with “journalism” not unlike Lollipop‘s style of verbiage make this crossover from music to tattoo art true to both forms. From Giger-esque to Tribal, Jap art and splattering collage sleeves that make your brain hurt; Sex, Tattoos and Rock ‘N’ Roll may skimp on the sex, but displays plenty of the rest.

The coverage ranges through all types of music, not just “rock ‘n’ roll”. The magnificent color does justice to the artwork and the layout incorporates “hanging at the bar” shots as well as close ups in a cohesive, action-packed bombardment.

Browse through it at your local newsstand, surreptitiously tuck it inside your jacket whilst contemplating an engrossing article in Sassy, or actually cough up the $4.95 and buy it.

While tattooing is illegal is Puritanistic MA (yeah, home of the tea shindig and other financially-motivated rebellions) tats and piercing are ever growing youth culture experiences. Sounds like some Babbitt-boomer hipsters trying to cash in on our generation without a name. As ex-Generation Xer Vidal Idol once said, “You can’t stop the punk rock.” I’m sure his publicity staff and financial advisors would agree.

L.A. East’s answering machine sounds like a K-Mart special, “From mild to wild, we do it all.” Rock, the main man, did a fine tribal tat on Chris, the cover artist from last issue. Mr. Rock narrated a documentary on tattooing that aired in Jan ’94 on Ch. 50 (WHDS) in N.H. The show covered past, present and future of tattooing and showed “the award-winning tribal artist at work on a lovely model.”

Dark Dragon wanted creative control. They got together and opened their own shop. No more “let me ask the boss” bullshit. They own exclusive rights to all flash (illustration) in the shop. Head ink-slinger Bill Waters quoted, “This isn’t Tattoos-R-Us. It’s not an assembly line. We’ll do up the design right in front of them.” Keith Dion, a piercer for five years, does body piercing at the shop. And this spring, role-playing mag and comic-book illustrator, Andy Ellis, will be tattooing. Bill did a fantasy babe on Trevor, our photo director, a month ago. Dark Dragon is band friendly.

Sin on Skin delves into the darker side of tattooing. Specializing in intense black & white macabre, Sin has definitely found it’s niche in the outrageous and offensive. Tat artist Phillip Girard has been inking all over NYC, Amsterdam and Germany. He’s left his mark on more big-name crazy mofos than can be listed here. “When I had ‘Fuck You’ tattooed on the inside of my lip, I knew there was no going back to the 9 to 5.” Sin’s got a devoted clientele of long hairs, no hairs, and purple headed “freaks.” Not far from Fall River, home of Lizzie Borden, Sin takes tattooing and tat maintenance seriously while living as intensely as they work. In Phillip’s own words, “Tattooing is the end, man.”