Powerful full-frontal assault guitar rock from a politically committed Boston quartet. Soma Holiday ventures nebulous (and brief) opinions on 18 topics (famine, farm subsidies, soldiering, McCarthyism, etc.); the rock’n’roll is decidedly more focused, raging and roaring with conviction. Richard Brown’s vocals aren’t nearly as good as Frank Michaels’ overdrive guitar, still Soma Holiday is a cool-sounding, reasonably intelligent protest record that offers a viable, equally intense alternative to hardcore.