Offhand, I can only think of HTTP::GHTTP (alt.), which even provides some comparative benchmarks ...

Benchmark: timing 1000 iterations of ghttp, lite, lwp...
         ghttp:  8 wallclock secs ( 0.96 usr +  1.16 sys =  2.12 CPU)
          lite: 21 wallclock secs ( 3.00 usr +  3.44 sys =  6.44 CPU)
           lwp: 18 wallclock secs ( 9.76 usr +  1.59 sys = 11.35 CPU)
[download]

It may be a little too "lite" for your needs, though, in which case ... perhaps rolling your own with IO::Socket or -gasp- the lower level Socket and friends?

    --k.