Kids, forget that weak emo rock you've been raised on. You want some REAL psychodrama in your music? Come hear the Toadies.

The Texan band that was almost reduced to being a one-hit wonder—thanks to 1994's ode to secret sexual surrender, “;Possum Kingdom”;—regrouped about three years ago and proved that with age comes some degree of maturity. Yes, you can learn to that all that unease over life's frustrations and reshape it into a sharp, finely honed skewer, ready to puncture any obliging eardrum.

The Toadies return to Hawaii more than 20 years since their last concert here, this time to rock the Pipeline Cafe and Maui's Hard Rock Cafe.

Speaking by phone from his home in the northern Texas city of Fort Worth, singer-songwriter Vaden Todd Lewis said the band will faithfully deliver up the hits (including “;Tyler”; and “;Away”; from the debut album “;Rubberneck”;), as well a selection from their latest studio project, the hard-rockin' “;No Deliverance.”;

“;When I personally go see a band that I like,”; Lewis said, “;I want to hear the songs that are familiar to me the way they were originally done. We're not one of those bands that, when it comes to revamping older hits, will do, like, a reggae version just to keep it interesting for us.”;

Lewis is joined by original guitarist Clark Vogeler and drummer Mark Reznicek (bassist Doni Blair, who replaced original member Lisa Umbarger, rounds out the lineup). He said that since the original band reunited, the Toadies have proved they can still come on strong and confident on stage.

“;Our tour last year went pretty well, as we crossed the continental U.S.,”; he said. “;With my other band, the Burden Brothers, taking an extended break, our plans include going to Europe for the first time in February to sort of test the waters, and during the summer maybe work on our next album.”;

IF THAT album is anything like “;No Deliverance,”; expect more lean, muscular and unrepentant hard rock that's bracing for its frankness.

From the opening salvo of “;So Long Lovey Eyes”; (with the plain-spoken lyric “;how did we get so f—-ing cold”;), through a passionate “;Flower”; and closing on the head-exploding “;I Want Your Love,”; the album takes no prisoners.

“;The response in concert to the songs from 'No Deliverance' has been positive. People seem to particularly like 'Song I Hate,' which is a cool surprise to me,”; Lewis said. “;Working with David Castell, who worked on my prior records with the Burden Brothers, it was our intention to keep the record gritty and live-feeling. It was done all on Pro Tools, and we used different mics and mic placements, and there are very few overdubs.”;

The Toadies were fortunate to get their start in one of the many music scenes throughout the Lone Star State.

“;It helps that Texas is so damn big,”; Lewis said. “;When we got into it in Fort Worth in the late '80s, it was overall a very nurturing scene. ... But any band worth a damn has to go somewhere else, and I felt I had to earn my chops playing in front of people who didn't know me. It was tough sometimes, but it definitely helped.”;

Compared to the band's earlier years on the corporate Interscope label, working with Texas indie Kirtland Records out of Dallas has been more immediately rewarding.

“;As far as fans go, we've been astounded with the response. When we put the record out in August, we did some preliminary tours, and our New York date sold out in a day. We were blown out of the water.

“;If there's one thing we've learned from touring it's that it's important to meet the fans face-to-face, the people that paid money to see us. Besides seeing a lot of old-time fans, we've had a lot of people who said they always wanted to see us live but weren't old enough to go to clubs back then. And we get the kids who first heard us on 'Guitar Hero II,' playing along with 'Possum Kingdom.'”;