Founding Bad Religion guitarist and Epitaph Records head Brett Gurewitz co-wrote and played guitar on the track "Believe It," marking his first contribution to the band since the 1994 album “Stranger Than Fiction.” Gurewitz--who left Bad Religion amid the flurry of criticism that the band received from some fans for signing with a major label--has not re-joined the band, however.

Bad Religion--known for the scholarly lyrics of doctorate-aspiring frontman Greg Graffin--supported the decidedly unscholarly pop-punk act Blink-182 on an amphitheater tour that opened this spring.

In 1998, the band began awarding an annual grant of between $3,000 and $5,000 to a college or high school student working in the cultural or natural science fields. (Graffin holds a degree in evolutionary biology from UCLA and is working towards his PhD at Cornell University.) This year’s grant was awarded to Walter Fuller of Loyola Marymount University for a research project titled “Physiological Effects of Excess Atmospheric C02 on Plants Ecosystem.” Details about the grant process are available on the band’s official website.