Brendan Benson earned a name for himself with the general public as Jack White’s co-conspirator in the Raconteurs. As a solo artist, he’s produced an even more impressive catalog of full-spectrum power pop. Benson has a fantastic ear for melody and composition; while he may not be trying to deconstruct and reinvent music entirely, he has an obvious admiration and insatiable appetite for the purest and sweetest ‘70’s and ‘80’s pop mannerisms. He emulates all of his favorite masters (ELO, Costello, Kinks, Wings), and slides effortlessly between twee bedroom folk numbers about the frustration of not being John Lennon, syrupy orchestral numbers about digging through the garbage to salvage a lover’s heart, or hyperactive rave-ups about his favorite guitar amplifier. Simultaneously playful and poignant, Benson is a throwback to when being called a “pop musician” wasn’t a derogatory term. With Frank Fairfield. GREGORY FRANKLIN

Mon., Feb. 15, 7 p.m., 2010