In the decade since their last studio LP, longrunning Pacific Northwest streetpunk resolutes NOi!SE have been prolific, releasing enough singles, EPs, compilation appearances, and more to fill the collection LP On and On. Nevertheless, the band's many international fans have continued to clamor for an all-new full length, and in 2026, the band delivers just that in the form of Fate of the Union on Pirates Press Records.
For the band's long awaited third LP, primary singer & songwriter Matt Henson brings a new lineup and a revitalized energy to the studio proceedings, resulting in 10 songs of the kind of hard-hitting but thoughtful punk rock that has made the band a favorite with audiences worldwide. If NOi!SE's goals can be put simply, it is not only to energize listeners with the music, but to encourage putting that energy into thought, discussion, and action via the lyrics.
Lead single "Vast Contrast" is a perfect example. Matt speaks directly to listeners, encouraging critical thinking about the narratives fed to the public by those in power - especially those who encourage working class people to make others the target of hatred - when it is only those same rich & powerful who benefit from the polarization. At the risk of speaking too generally, the lyrics make the message instead intensely personal: "On the great divide again / It stands between me and you."
Meanwhile, on "You Versus You", Matt gets even more personal, articulating hard truths from lived experience about the self-destructive habits that one forms seeking escapism, only to perpetuate the cycle of misery from which they sought to escape in the first place. Referring to such cycles as "the romanticism of catastrophe" and creating "a pariah of your own design", Matt speaks eloquently about these dead ends, but stresses that they can be risen above, but only by a conscious choice on the part of the person living through them.
And thus the album plays out, with thought-provoking reflections on the personal, the political, and most often, the cross section of both, where people have to live. To put the final call to action in place, the album closes with an all-new recording of "Idle Action", which, despite being the band's signature song, has never appeared on a studio full length. The new recording by the new iteration of NOi!SE sounds vital, energized, and ready to inspire the fight for change - in the world at large and in people's hearts & minds.