The Raveonettes creates short, sweet CD

Though The Raveonettes’ name might not sound familiar to music listeners, TV enthusiasts have likely heard the band’s unique harmonies and playful sounds in such places as Kmart ads and Gossip Girl.

Photo courtesy of Big Hassle

Happy-go-lucky and TV-friendly as the duo of Sune Rose Wagner and Sharin Foo might seem, listening to any Raveonettes album reveals many more layers.

The Raveonettes’ latest release, Raven in the Grave, proves the band’s ability to make you dance and think, with an array of uncategorized sounds that make the band a consistently good listen.

In nine tracks, The Raveonettes gives you enough to latch on to and reflect on.

With heart-wrenching chords and more than enough crisp beats to keep your head bouncing, the band’s tracks prove quality, not length, is what matters.

It’s hard to find a filler track here. Instead of competing with each other, each track presents a different layer of musicality and emotional tenderness.

The light sounds in “War in Heaven” throw you off guard with a sensitive sprinkling of sound.

The rougher guitar sounds burst in and hint at something darker before Foo’s breathy voice says wait, and the notes go back to a soft, lulling sound.

To top it all off,  a confident, soulful drum beat and a bridge of descending keyboard notes render lyrics unnecessary.

Halfway through the song, it’s as if you’re waiting for something to happen — but then you realize the crux of the song is this feeling of waiting.

Here, overly emotional lyrics are traded for subtle hints of chemistry between instrumentals that manages to be emotionally stirring.

If ever there were a song that would make you dance along while someone sang of possible pedophilia, The Raveonettes has crafted it.

“Forget That You’re Young” takes advantage of Foo’s sweet, swooning voice and couples it with soft guitar strumming to make you forget about the suspicious subject matter at hand.

The band takes three minutes to progress through an entire relationship, using repetition in a melodic way and playing with the line can I fall awake now? to point out the touching, yet unrealistic and disturbing mindset of the speaker, who is both kissing and hurting someone before admitting and I forget that you’re young.

Alternating between and I know that you are young and and I forget that you’re young, The Raveonettes makes us listen to the track and wonder if this is pedophilia at its sweetest or simply an exclamation of love to a younger child or sibling.

If you’re looking for darker material, “Apparitions” paints a much different picture, though with the same effective drums that came in “War in Heaven.”

Wagner sings about being jacked up on life and hell in a track that takes on almost MGMT-like vocals.

Again, the band turns you topsy-turvy when Foo’s voice breaks up the darkness with the lines let’s get out of here / want you to come along, lyrics that are simple but become a strange entreaty when sung by Foo.

The entirety of Raven in the Grave makes it seem like Foo and Wagner had no difficulty creating these tracks.

Sounding like one long, unwinding jam session, the album gracefully concludes with “My Time’s Up,” a track that encapsulates the style of both the album and the unique duo itself.

Each Raveonettes track, including this one, creates musicality and harmonies that are soothing yet at times uncanny, hinting at an unsettling tone that refuses to let the listener passively enjoy the tracks.

Because of this, Raven in the Grave is not an easy listen.

Though the duo’s off-beat sound might throw you off-guard, it’s this very sound that keeps the band from disappearing into the background.