Dave Short

Review: The Rocky Horror Punk Show

The Rocky Horror Picture Show is a tad bit tame these days. After all, with women kissing on awards shows and other ‘lewd’ acts on network television, nothing seems shocking anymore, and Rocky Horror, even with its blatantly hedonistic overtones, suffers as a result. The same might be said of the film’s music — and rock ‘n roll in general. In its heyday rock ‘n roll was shocking enough to prompt several cities to attempt to ban it. Now, a rock song plays in almost every television commercial and supermarket; rock’s backbone, its backbeat, is as natural to us as a microwave or a ride in a car.

How interesting this album should be. Punk rock reinvigorated rock ‘n roll in an age when it was dying, when guitar players took no shame in indulging in twelve-minute solos. Punk was based around three chords and the truth. The music from Rocky Horror is itself similar to punk — from listening to the original soundtrack, one got the impression that the instrumentalists were bashing the hell out of their instruments in much the same way as Dr. Frankenfurter was bashing the hell out of his new playthings in the sack. This album should be just the thing to reinvigorate the 35-year old movie, giving it new energy and purpose.

Sadly, it does not. Some of the highest-energy tracks from the original soundtrack are some of the dullest here, and the vocals are to blame. Granted, most punk singers probably have not had experience in the theater or acting, but you’d think their performances would carry a little bit more emotion. Rocky Horror’s best-known track, “The Time Warp”, is given a particularly lackluster performance here. The Groovie Ghoulies’ vocalist doesn’t give any heart to the words he’s singing, he sounds nasally monotone throughout. In the context of the play, the Transylvanians are ga-ga over this dance: it is the center of their world. The Time Warp should make listeners want to get up and dance, but all I wanted to do was hit the next track button on my CD player. “Hot Patootie” is another one, changing Meatloaf’s impassioned ode to Saturday night makeout sessions to an almost militarliy-barked chant does not work. It drags, and the synthesizer in the background doesn’t help much. “Dammit Janet” suffers particularly in the vocal department.

The tracks that work best here are the lesser-known ones. Luckie Strike’s version of “Rose Tint My World”, clocking in at over just a minute, gallops along, with sincere performances from all its vocalists. “Wild and Untamed Thing”, one of my favorites, is given an interesting instrumental make-over, but once against the vocals drag the performance down. Perhaps the best all-around treatment comes from Ruth’s Hat, who soups up “Superheroes” enough to give it punk weight, but keep the track’s trepidated feel, merging the two perfectly. “Over at the Frankenstein Place”, “Sword of Damocles”, “Sweet Transvestite”, both versions of “I Can Make you a Man”, “Toucha-Toucha-Touch Me”, and “Science Fiction Double Feature” (understandably, since the Me First and the Gimmie Gimmies did an entire album of show tunes, this among them) are other standout tracks.

The rest of the tracks sit somewhere in the middle, not dragging but not kicking me out of my chair, either. Middle-of-the-road, just like most rock today. Bottom line: the album needs more passionate singing. Perhaps if the bands had approached this as scenes from a play, instead of individual songs to cover, the album would have come off a lot better. As it stands, it’s a good concept implemented poorly.