Hi, everyone. Giggthony Enstano here, the internet's second busiest music nerd, here today with a review of the new Joey Valence and Brae album, NO HANDS.

Joey and Brae met in college and instantly became best friends. They discovered they had so much in common, whether it was music or TV shows they grew up with. They started listening to the music that Joey was making, this EDM music, which slowly transformed into beats. They start putting words on top of this stuff and before they knew it, they created the sauce that became Joey Valence and Brae.

Their early singles and debut album have won over the ears of millions of fans, music that harkens back to the 1990s but has a lot of influences surrounding it. You can tell these guys grew up listening to some incredible music. You have sounds from NWA, RUN-DMC, Ice Cube, and of course, the unforgettable Beastie Boys. Their sound is definitely influenced by these groups, but it's a very contemporary sound.

The album opens up with the high intensity energy of "BUSSIT". This thing has sludgy synths, huge explosive drum hits, and lyrically, it's got this fun, hype-you-up confidence that's meant to just make you go, "Oh, yeah, I can do anything." There's a couple of moments in the song that take a complete 180 from that hard-hitting, driven sound where it almost sounds like underwater video game music. It's a cool juxtaposition to have those two things matched up together. "PACKAPUNCH" follows it up next with this menacing riff and this call and response chorus that's just instant ear candy. I love the Olivia Rodrigo reference with GUTS. Danny Brown's on this, he blends in so perfectly, he's got such a unique delivery, then blending in with these two guys, this trio works. I want to see them do way more songs together, it's just fun to listen to.

The title track, "NO HANDS", comes up next, and I love the record scratching on this, that warm piano, the sax. It's just got this comfy vibe. Both Joey and Brae reminisce about growing up and how things have changed for them and what they're up to now. I love that phrase "no hands" because it really is like when you're showing off when you're a kid and you're riding your bike and not holding on to the handlebars, you're like, "Look, Ma, no hands. I'm doing this thing that nobody else can do. Look how smooth and slick I am." That's what this is.

We go back to the harder stuff in the next track, "LIKE A PUNK". This track is one of my favorites. It just slaps you in the head over and over again. The repetitive chorus is such a payoff because by the time it gets to "it's time to rave," that faux British accent is so funny. Then it just dives into this humongous dance house, punk-feeling thing. "WHERE U FROM" comes up next, I love this one. It's a little bit more chill, but it's nice to have a calm track after "LIKE A PUNK". The humor is still there, I love the repetitive "little bruh" moments, they crack me up every single time. I love Brae saying, "You still using hashtags" - we're way beyond that, buddy. "INTERMISSION 2" follows that up next. It's probably one of the weaker songs of the album, but I get it. I understand the humor behind it. The chorus is literally, "I don't know, hey / I don't know, hey / I don't know, hey." I do love the lines about having Mickey D's hips and never putting numbers on a spreadsheet. Just common flexes.

Here we go, "THE BADDEST". This is one of the coolest songs I've heard in the longest time. The production on this thing just is explosive all the way through. It's loud, it's brash, it's just punk, but it's also hip hop, but it's also so many other elements rolled into one. The track is catchy, it's dynamic, it's going to stay in your head forever. It begs for you to sing along before the song ends, and that's the mark of a good pop song. "OK" comes up next, and it's got to be a Lil Jon reference. I mean, the amount of times they say "okay" in a Lil Jon-esque style voice is a lot. But I like this one a lot because it's one of those songs where you're trying to flex, you're trying to be cool, but you probably aren't that cool, or you came from just a normal childhood, normal teenager life, and you bought your clothes at Walmart, and you drive around with your friends, you go to Wendy's at night. It's just like a growing up thing. What matters is who you are. That's what's cool. It doesn't matter what you're wearing. If you feel cool inside, your cool personality will show. That's what "OK" is about.

"DOUGHBOY" opens up with a Monty Python reference, which is pretty cool. This song is totally a House of Pain track. You can just hear "Jump Around" as the reference for this one - and of course, many other songs that they did - but it's definitely got that chunky, layered feeling that House of Pain was known for. It's a song about getting that dollar. Call him doughboy, get it? Terror Reid seamlessly joins the guys on this track as well, adds some really cool bars. The features on this album work so well. I'm not sure who reached out to who, but between the first one with Logic and now this album with Danny Brown, Terror Reid, they're doing an amazing job of finding vocalists that work so casually with them. The seamless energy and charisma and chemistry that they all have, it just works.

Up next is "WHAT U NEED", and this one for me is the most early 90s dance house, techno song of the record. I really love how it almost sounds like Black Box. Remember that song, "Everybody Everybody"? It gives that feeling and maybe that's what they were going for, but I definitely get that walking down the runway in the early 90s feel, or I'm at the mall shopping, and it's 1992. This song has really cool production on it, too, because there's moments on the hi-hat, almost feel like they're stopped before they complete the run of the fill of the hi-hat. These guys really know what they're doing with their production, their sampling, the way they chop things up together. They're making really interesting music that is wearing their influences on their sleeve, but they're creating something so new and so fresh and so vibrant.

The one song in this album that I'm not super big on is "JOHN CENA", and that's the next track on this one. For me, it just doesn't have the same energy as the other ones do. It's still a good track, but for me, it's just a little more boring than the other ones. I use the word boring loosely because it's Joey Valence and Brae, they make great music. This one in particular just doesn't grab me as much as the other ones do. It's still cool. It's still got that hyping you up, confidence feel, but it's not for me.

The final song on the album, "OMNITRIX", This one cracks me up. It's a Ben 10 reference where it's a watch, but it's not really a watch because you can use it to turn into all of other things. This song, lyrically, they talk about how things have changed for them and what's going on now. They're able to help out their friends and their family. they mentioned getting a purse for their mom or helping their sister open a restaurant. There's so much happening for the guys now since their first record came out, and the Omnitrix was something that helped you change. It's like they're constantly wearing an Omnitrix as they're constantly changing. The track definitely has ending credit vibes as it lilt and floats away. You're floating in air looking down at Joey and Brae, maybe holding their skateboards, looking up.

Overall, NO HANDS is a really fun album, and unfortunately, fun music gets looked down upon. It's almost considered dumb music because it's not taking itself super seriously, but guess what? Fun music can be, you guessed it, fun. Sometimes you just want to hear good music to hype you up and make you feel good. There's nothing wrong with that. We hear the friendship, we hear the goofiness, we hear what are obviously inside jokes, but there's just enough of an open door to let all of us in to also experience that friendship, that goofiness, those inside jokes. All of this comes from such an honest, pure place. Nothing about this album is showy or trying to be something that it's not. It's just here to entertain you and make themselves laugh. At the end of the day, that rules. It's just about guys hanging out, having a good time, and I want to end this review by saying, I think I counted the word booty nine or 10 times in this album. There's like 12 songs, almost every song mentions booty.

I'm feeling a light eight on this one.

Anthony Fantano. Joey Valence and Brae. I'm the baddest bitch in this club. Forever.