A spooky cartoon skull and hand-drawn heart. This simple logo has come to symbolize Alkaline Trio and its signature sound -- driving rock, paired with dark lyrics and a blackened heart on the sleeve.

"We were looking at bands like Social Distortion and Rocket from the Crypt," says Alkaline Trio founder, Matt Skiba, of the genesis of their heart and skull insignia. "They had logos that could be tattooed on them or put on the back of their leather jackets. You saw the logo and it was synonymous with that band, there was no mistaking it."

In the 14 years since Skiba's design school friend Heather Gabel penned the design, the logo has not only represented the band, but also found its way onto the skin of countless fans across the world.

"[Seeing fans' Alkaline Trio tattoos], it's something that never gets old," Skiba says. "It's something that they'll take to the grave with them. That's not something morbid, that's a beautiful thing. Death is our friend. It reminds us we're mortal and we should try to enjoy our lives while we have 'em. People going their whole lives with that on their body -- there isn't a greater compliment."

In addition to fan loyalty, the logo now represents the next chapter in the Alkaline Trio's impressive career. After watching their previous two record labels (V2 and Epic) crumble around them, the band decided to start their own label. Naturally, they named it Heart & Skull.

"We decided that we would just put the record out ourselves," Skiba says. "We just wanted to do our own thing and be in control of everything and own our masters. Also, we want to start signing other bands eventually when we get this thing off the ground."

The band, all of whom are partners in the new label, teamed up with Epitaph for the day-to-day affairs. "It's a bonus to work with a record label like Epitaph who has risen above the crashing music industry. We have the best of both worlds -- we have our own label and we also have a great partner. We love 'em and we trust 'em."

Heart & Skull's first release will hit stores February 23 -- Alkaline Trio's seventh album, "This Addiction." Though band continues to move forward, the record certainly recalls the band's most punk rock beginnings.

"We tried to do it as bare bones as possible," Skiba says. "There's a lot of stuff going on there that you can't really hear -- it's not as stripped back as it sounds -- but it is definitely stripped back as opposed to our last couple of records."

Skiba says that the album's feel has a lot to do with how it was written. "For many years -- we all live in different state -- we would send each other MP3s and write via e-mail. We'd have GarageBand sessions and then send them to each other. For this record, we wrote all the songs at sound checks while we were on the 'Agony & Irony' tour. So it was more akin to the way we wrote songs when we started the band, where all three of us would get together in a rehearsal space and write songs together."

Though the record has some of the band's catchiest work to date, "This Addiction" is counterbalanced by plenty of demons. "Each of us has gone through a lot since the last record -- I mean a lot for us, not compared to people who are getting blown to pieces overseas or anything. We're lucky guys, but we do have things in our life that have been either really great or really awful. This record, like our first couple of records, it's upbeat, almost punk rocky type music, but with dark lyrics. It's like a celebration or a catharsis of those emotions and doing it in a way that's fun to listen to, hopefully."

The record should appeal to the band's long-time punk fans as well as those who were attracted to their moodier, new music. It has just enough heart and skull.