Given the nature of the music he and his drumming brother, Rob, have captured on debut album III, the delayed response could be described as typically considered.
"I think playing music is quite a self-indulgent thing ... It is a complete release from what is going on in everyday life. It is a great feeling."
Released this week by Dunedin label Monkey Killer Records, the vinyl and download-only album has been a fair while in the making. Initial recording took place in April 2007, with Dunedin engineer Dale Cotton controlling the sessions at the Port Chalmers Masonic Lodge before embarking on the mixing process.
Operation Rolling Thunder didn't mean to take so long over its debut album; somehow "life and a lack of money" got in the way of the music, Adam explains.
"Rob's been pretty busy. At the time of recording, he was playing in every band under the sun. But you know when you get to the point when you record and need to have a break? Well, that break just got longer and longer.
"It's hard getting stuff out. You need a lot of energy and neither of us is particularly good at that stuff. Then Dave [Ager, of Monkey Killer Records] came along like a knight on a white horse.
"I'm not really into that 'wowee, pushy pushy' thing. If you want to have a really big crack at it, you have to be aware of all the promotion angles and I'm just not that comfortable with that. I'd rather let the music speak for itself."
That said, Operation Rolling Thunder celebrates its album release with a performance at Dunedin venue XII Below tonight. There are also plans to tour in the new year.
Like the eight tracks that comprise III, there is a sense a sleeping giant might have reawakened.
Recorded at a time when the Falconer brothers were, arguably, peaking following a series of strong live performances, including a national tour, and regular songwriting sessions, III is as brutal as it is beautiful.
Propelled by drumming that is both intricate and primal and electric guitar that ranges from ethereal textures to distorted flailing, the album might suggest an instinctive sibling synergy, yet there is also a sense of restraint at times.
"It is really mapped out," Adams says. "We'd jam away for hours and hours and record quite a bit and piece it back together. Each song probably contains a hundred various bits and pieces put together.
"When we were writing those songs we were wary of becoming lazy, of using just a couple of ideas - play it soft, play it loud, let's see what happens. But I think you need to push yourselves. When you listen to HDU or Bailterspace, there is quite a bit of piecing together to keep it interesting.
"We'd just come off a Low Hum tour and were writing and practising a lot. We feel really comfortable with the songs we recorded. Previously, we might have come up with stuff and thought, `ho-hum', but with this we are really confident.
"I think we still have something to offer. We are willing to stretch it a bit more. I think as a two-piece we have tended to be a bit timid, but now we are more aware of what we can do," Adam says.
"I was listening to our EP [released in 2005] a while ago and it feels a bit dated and predictable with the build-and-release thing. I think we've pushed the boat out a bit with this album; it's a bit more aggressive in places, though I think there is still a fair bit of melody in what we do.
"We were lucky with Dale, because he has a good ear and some nice gear. We'd tried out lots of guitar amps ... we were really aware of the sounds. I was playing away on one amp [gear-heads take note: a Hi-Watt] and Dale came down and turned it up. I've never heard anything so loud. It was like being in the eye of a storm."
Growing up in Invercargill, the brothers had the benefit of tolerant parents who allowed them to let rip in a study. Homework clearly came later.
"We'd just come home from school and have this blaze of glory for 40 minutes," Adam recalls.
"I've grown up around Rob's playing. It just feels really comfortable with him. There is that unspoken thing, which is cool.
"If only [older brother] Jim could play, we'd be like Hanson ... but he's got no rhythm."
• Be there
Operation Rolling Thunder celebrates the release of debut album III with a performance at XII Below tonight, supported by Conray (Dale Cotton and Aidan Fraser) and Hana Fahy.
