The time warp, again: a punk-flavored Rocky Horror tribute album captures the subversive sexiness of the original.

The Rocky Horror Show will forever be one of the more fascinating, if sometimes weird, queer-conscious entries in pop culture. At the time of its 1975 introduction it forged sexual imagery that would not likely pass muster during these more conservative times. Even our own community would be raising red flags questioning the irreverence with which the show (and subsequent movie) dealt with sex and all of the saucy mind games and manipulation that go with it. Quite simply, The Rocky Horror Show was a fun and funny slice of musical theater that deftly reflected the reckless, don't-give-a-damn tone of its era.

To that end, it makes perfect sense that a cadre of underground punk bands would gather for The Rocky Horror Punk Rock Show. Only a collective of bands that includes Pansy Division, Alkaline Trio, the Groovie Ghoulies, and the Phenomenauts could capture the unabashed glee of the piece yet tap into the edgy darkness that quietly underscores even the most silly nine, like "Wild and Untamed Thing," performed here by Gametime. It's odd to hear raunchy guitar jams that have grit and balls but, undeniably, betray the band as smiling, maybe even laughing, as they play.

Digging into the set, the Pansys are particularly effective on "I Can Make You a Man," lacing the song with a groin-grabbing backroom-sex tone, while Caroline No play into the seductive quality of "Touch-A, Touch-A, Touch Me" without falling too deep into a K (for kitsch) hole. "Science Fiction/Double Feature" bookends the set, interpreted first by Me First and the Gimme Gimmes and finally by the Ataris. The former rendition has all of the ornery glass-breaking force you want to kick the set off with, whereas the latter has a slightly wistful framework that closes the set quite nicely.

The true shining moment of The Rocky Horror Punk Rock Show comes during Apocalypse Hoboken's delicious rendition of "Sweet Transvestite." As the band plow's through the song's hook line, "I'm just a sweet transvestite / From Transsexual, Transylvania," it perfectly captures the joy of the show while making a palpable connection to the experience of existing so far away from the mainstream.

It's in that moment that the true merit of the original Rocky Horror Show becomes evident. It represented all of us on the fringe. This homage does the same--and beautifully so.

Flick is the cohost of Out Q in the Morning on Sirius/Out Q Radio.