Girl On Top

I told myself that mystical sounding music, which was based in the rock tradition, would never last. But it has, and Girl On Top is in a commanding position. Karen DeBiasse is the vocalist/ guitarist Girl in question, and the quality band consists of Jack Rootoo on lead guitar, Dave Simmons on bass, and Tom Moroney on drums. This is not music that’s afraid to be happy, nor is it overly concerned with laying a downer on you. In most cases, a band doing that would be “all over the road.” But there’s continuity in the sound of Girl On Top—they hold a focus through the weavings of the tracks as they progress, and that’s a great strength of concentration. The guitar work is “tasty” (I said I’d never use that word), the arrangements clean, and production crisp and sounding good. A couple Rolling Stones covers at the end are a tasty treat as well. A tasty band with tasty music and tasty people. (Mike Loce)
- The Noise

Girl on Top’s latest release demonstrates a diverse sound ranging from punk to pop to full out rock n' roll. Karen DeBiasse’s intoxicating voice takes the listener on a memorable journey one won’t soon forget.
- Go-Girls

This show was billed as a Love Goddess Revue. Being a man who appreciates a good love goddess, I decided to brave the horrible parking of Somerville and check it out. The Kirkland Cafe was filled with people caught up in the spirit of Valentine's Day, especially Girl On Top singer Karen DeBiasse in her rather short red outfit that made me happy I left the house.

Girl On Top is a loud high energy rock band and are really good at grabbing your attention. Hell, after their set, I forgot all about the band that opened for them and I felt really bad for the band that went on after them because nobody was really paying much attention to them, including me.

I like this band because they have a lot of heavy guitar riffs that sometimes venture into pop territory. Karen has been known to charm you with sweet lyrics and lower the boom on you with awesome songs you will always remember.

MJ QUIRK
yeeyeemgt@aol.com

- Mike Quirk

Girl On Top performs a very well-structure version of what I call Boston female-fronted pop-punk. This broadly-defined style of music was extremely popular when I lived in Beantown from ’89 to ’91, and there’s still a lot coming out of that city. It’s a mix of rawness, aggression, and power. Girl On Top does the style’s whole spectrum-from soft to heavy-quite well, with some interesting guitar work from David Simmons and a fun overall feel. The title track is sosrt of Nirvana-meets-Missing Person.
- Geoff Wilbur

Great live show!!!! Karen is fun and sexy to watch and a very talented musician with a great voice! The band is also extremely tight. It’s clear to see they really are having fun on stage. Kinda reminded me a little of the “Pretenders”. But Karen looks and sounds better. A great refreshing change compared to the many angry bands that seem to be everywhere now. Two thumbs up!
- Mesa World

Boston-based band fronted by Karen DeBiasse. Honest lyrics with a powerful voice. Local music doesn’t get much better than this!
- Raging Insomniac

Since I’m primarily an obsessed fan of the Got/Industrial rock music genre, I was definitely excited to start sampling some more “classic” rock albums. I was fortunate enough to receive a copy of Girl On Top’s second release “Cherry Blossoms”, and I can honestly say I wouldn’t go anywhere without it.

To start, Girl ON Top is a Boston-based band, fronted by Karen DeBiasse. Karen is definitely no stranger to the music business. In fact, she seems to be an authority figure as she runs and maintains her own Voice/Music Instruction school in the city of Boston.

With a degree from the Berklee School of Music, and a student of Emerson College, Karen was playing music wherever she was, eventually meeting esteemed vocal instructor Dante Pavone. Karen met with him after previously straining her voice, and soon enough, Karen was back to writing and producing her own independent music.

The release “Cherry Blossoms” is all around amazing. Listeners will instantly fall in love with Karen’s voice as she sings about love, loss, and life in general.

Standout tracks include “Air Waves”, where Karen takes a stab at the current state of the industry, and how difficult it is for artists to break through.

My person favorite is “Protect Yourself” as Karen sings warning to people everywhere.

There are 2 excellent covers on this record as wsell. “Gimme Shelter” and “Paint It Black” are very well done.
- Sarah

Catchy pop, with a little crunch and interesting ska-ish horns on one track, kind of like Letters to Cleo versus Juliana Hatfield.

It’s got hooks. I’ll say that much. If you like to indiscriminately get songs stuck in your head for all eternity give it a shot.
- Greg

Girl On Top, Karen DeBiasse has a driving band that kicks the stuffing out of these three cuts. The guitars are big, loud and nasty while DeBiasse’s sassy, snotty vocals work well within the contest of these songs. This is a good band that knows how to make music for the 90’s and beyond! Watch them to rise to the top and hope that she’s wearing that little sundress.
- Metronome Magazine