A firebrand force in Los Angeles punk, Bad Religion is known for tackling Big Important Issues. Readying its 14th album, "New Maps of Hell," for July release against a backdrop of war in Iraq and Afghanistan and polarizing politics at home, you'd be forgiven for expecting a certain amount of social outcry on the CD. But the group's songwriter-guitarist Brett Gurewitz says that's not the case.

"It's pointedly less political this time," he says. "Well, it's not nonpolitical. What it is, is non-topical. I think we're more inspirational when we're less topical. The music can be more of a catalyst if it's less specific on topical things."

It's a return to past form of sorts; in the band's early days, Gurewitz would truck over to the UCLA dorm room of lead singer Greg Graffin to write and shape songs. Now, Graffin is an instructor teaching life sciences on the campus. "So it's kind of cool. After classes, he's been coming over to my house to work on this. It's just like the old days."

The band, which came together in 1980, has had a bumpy history. Gurewitz, also the owner of Epitaph Records, left Bad Religion in 1994 amid much rancor. But he returned to the fold in 2002 and played a central role two years later with its critically hailed album "The Empire Strikes First."

And now, he says standards for the new 17-song release are high: "We're looking for a strong return to form."

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