Moving away from the more adolescent themes of their earlier albums, Florida Punk/Pop superstars New Found Glory say traveling the world and touring has been their "higher education."

When New Found Glory released their third CD, Catalyst, last summer, it looked like the group might be on the verge of a major commercial breakthrough. Their self-titled album in 2000 had slowly but surely racked up sales of about 500,000, while the 2002 follow-up, Sticks & Stones, did even better. It easily surpassed gold and is now nearing the million mark in sales.

But Catalyst got off to the fastest start of any New Found Glory CD, going gold in about two months. The album's release coincided with New Found Glory joining the Warped tour last summer as one of the featured acts on the traveling multi-act music festival. The group followed up that outing by snagging the opening slot on Good Charlotte's arena trek last fall -- one of the season's biggest tours.

Since then, however, New Found Glory haven't been making much noise, as Catalyst fell off the Billboard magazine Top 200 album chart. The band is only now returning to the road in the United States, this time headlining clubs on what is billed as the "Back to Basics" tour.

But while the momentum behind Catalyst has clearly stalled, singer Jordan Pundik says the club tour isn't so much a function of sagging fortunes as the group members wanting a change of pace from the arena and shed venues they had played last year.

"This is actually like the first tour we've been headlining since Catalyst came out a year ago," Pundik says. "It's kind of cool we can actually go back and play these smaller venues because those were what we played just starting out. Touring and touring constantly, we just kept playing these smaller places and we kind of wanted to go back to that, back to the roots a little bit."

Fans who see New Found Glory on the "Back to Basics" tour will see a slightly revamped version of the band. Keyboardist James Dewees, who contributed synthesizer to the New Wave-ish song "Failure's Not Flattering" on Catalyst, has joined the group full-time.

"He used to be in a band called the Get Up Kids and he has a little side project called Reggie and the Full Effect, which is opening for us," Pundik says. "So he has to play two sets in a row."

Adding keyboards to their instrumental arsenal isn't the only transition New Found Glory has made with Catalyst. While the group, which formed in Coral Springs, Fla., in 1997, still sticks to the Pop Punk sound that has been their signature from day one, the CD does offer some subtle shifts and signs of growth in their music. For one thing, Catalyst has a heavier sound than the previous New Found Glory albums, as tunes like "All Downhill From Here" (which, as the lead single, became a radio hit), "This Disaster" and "Truth of My Youth" all bring a bit thicker guitar sound and more wallop from the rhythm section.

Pundik says there was no particular circumstance that took New Found Glory's sound in a heavier direction, other than a feeling of a little extra creative freedom.

"We've always just kind of been the type of band that doesn't really write any sort of specific way. It's just whatever fits," he says. "For Catalyst it was like we just had songs and we didn't think twice if it was too heavy or too light or too fast or too slow."

The group also broadened their sound by using strings on the ballad "I Don't Wanna Know" and bringing in a small gospel trio to add backing vocals to "Doubt Full," a song that, despite that touch, is a decidedly brisk rocker.

Catalyst also shows growth on a lyrical level, as the group's youthful perspective -- while still present -- has aged a little, and the songs, many of which revolve around relationship problems, are a bit more introspective.

"I think with every record we've gone through so many experiences," Pundik says, noting that, as on past albums, guitarist Steve Klein remained the band's primary lyricist. "We've pretty much lived our teenage life on tour and on the road, and everything we've learned and experienced has been on tour. We didn't learn it by going to college or by going to school or hanging out at the movie theater. We learned it by getting in a van and being on tour.

"So I think every record -- I think with the new record more -- now a couple of us are married. I'm getting married (in September). So we're going through so many things that every record... we're just getting older. You can't be 25 years old and write about the girl you lost in high school, you know what I'm saying?"

While the "Back to Basics" tour is the first order of business, Pundik says he and his bandmates -- Klein, Dewees, guitarist Chad Gilbert, drummer Cyrus Bolooki and bassist Ian Grushka -- are beginning to look toward their next CD. The current plan is to return to the studio in October to begin recording, but Pundik says the group doesn't want to rush the process.

"It's awesome if we are able to have that time because we can actually go through the songs and really hone in on the things that are important in the songs," he says. "I think with the new record, we're going to have a lot of time and we're looking at places to record where it's not just in the middle of Los Angeles somewhere, but somewhere where it's kind of relaxing and you have places to kind of think.

"I think the next record just has to go above and beyond anybody's expectations."