!!! [ tickets ] is nothing if not ambitious. For the last decade, the Brooklyn-based eight-piece has sought to merge the forces of punk and disco, get indie rockers to shed their cool and dance, and tweak conventional thought.

Quite an agenda, and "Myth Takes," the band's third and best album, hits all of its targets. The beats hit where feet and hips live, the spiky hooks work their magic and the often-philosophical lyrics--perhaps best expressed by the song "All My Heroes are Weirdos"--take up residence in your memory bank.

On its previous album, the angry, sprawling "Louden Up Now," !!! threw haymakers at its targets ("Me and Guiliani Down by the Schoolyard," "S--- Schiesse Merde") and connected on a fair amount, but the relentlessness was sometimes too much of a good thing. On the succinct "Myth Takes," the band has learned to focus its jabs, with some of the songs scaled down to the three-minute range. The title track, for instance, says its piece in 2:23, with a haunting riff straight out of Morricone and Dale that has you wanting more. Even the extended workouts for the dance floor, like "Heart of Hearts," "Bend Over Beethoven" and "Must be the Moon," don't outstay their welcome while working up a righteous sweat.

Some !!! fans might miss the f-bomb rage typified by "Pardon My Freedom" on "Louden Up Now," and regret the creeping sadness ("Sweet Life," "Infinifold") on "Myth Takes." No one said revolution was easy.

But the ultimate test of a good dance album is whether it retains its power away from the crowded disco, and "Myth Takes" passes the test--with three exclamation points.