Kevin Bronson on January 19th, 2017

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Veteran rocker David Stücken has lived all over Southern California — Orange County, Long Beach, L.A. — and his no-frills roots-rock, like the blue-collar troubadours who’ve pounded the pavement before him, is built around earnest, visceral narratives. His new project is called David and the Curse, whose debut album “An Epitaph for Love” will arrive by spring. It’s the work of a fedora-wearin’ romantic who croons about the love lost and love gained, but who also has a keen eye for the world outside his door. Stücken calls “Figueroa Street” his favorite song on the album.

“I wrote ‘Figueroa Street’ while living a block off Adams Boulevard and Figueroa Street, about a half-mile south of the skyline of downtown Los Angeles — where multi-millionaires live in brand new lofts that tower over those living knee deep in poverty in tents on Skid Row,” says Stücken, who dedicates the video for the song to the thousands who sleep on the streets of L.A. and includes a plea to donate to the Los Angeles Mission and the LA Food Bank.

He adds, “As we as a nation embark on four years of expected lunacy and greed within our country’s political and economic infrastructure, I felt as an artist it was important to produce a video that portrays the real city of Los Angeles rather than how E! Entertainment Television depicts it on ‘reality’ programming. While the sound of the song is upbeat and dancey, the lyrics reflect the somber truth that our country has a massive divide: a division in wealth and a divided sense of community.”

||| Watch: The video for “Figueroa Street”