Don’t Ever Change Brings Hullore’s Seattle-Rooted Grunge to Listeners Raised on Early-90s Alt-Rock
5 min read
Don't Ever Change Brings Hullore's Seattle-Rooted Grunge to Listeners Raised on Early-90s Alt-Rock
Lee Gardner’s Solo Project Builds a Bright Single on a Repeating Bass Groove
A repeating bass groove came first. Hullore is the solo project of Lee Gardner, who built Don’t Ever Change outward from that opening line. Heavy riffs, ringing harmonics and layered vocals came next. Released on 14 August 2026, the single is aimed squarely at listeners who grew up on early-90s alternative rock.
Hullore’s Don’t Ever Change is in the playlist below. The project’s full coverage history is collected on Hullore’s artist profile. The single came to this desk through PopHits.Co Music Charts, which verifies independent artists and places their releases across its network of music news sites. Press play, then read on for who it is aimed at.
Don’t Ever Change Is Aimed at Listeners Raised on Nirvana, Soundgarden and Alice in Chains
The audience is easy to read, because Hullore names it directly. The project’s own site describes the music as modern grunge and alternative rock for fans of Nirvana, Soundgarden and Alice in Chains. That is not a borrowed reference. According to the Hullore biography, Gardner grew up in the Pacific Northwest and played in bands through the late 1980s and early 1990s. He also saw Soundgarden live in 1986, before the wider world caught up with the Seattle sound. Today the project is based in Los Angeles.
Don’t Ever Change turns that background toward a brighter mood than grunge is usually known for. The groove of the opening bass line pushed the song in a more optimistic direction. The arrangement follows it with big guitars and a melodic refrain. The lyric is about staying true to yourself. The refrain spells it out plainly: “Always stay / Forever strange / Don’t ever change.” For listeners who still find comfort in heavy guitars, that message lands without any irony.
Each of the three bands on that list points at one part of the record. First, Nirvana built their best-known songs on sharp shifts between quiet and loud sections. Don’t Ever Change leans on dynamic shifts of its own. Second, Alice in Chains made stacked vocal harmonies a signature over heavy riffs, which is close to the layered vocals here. Finally, Soundgarden paired heavy riffing with a melodic vocal line, and that balance between weight and tune is the core of this single.
The Early Response Built Through Hullore’s Earlier Singles
Hullore has been releasing music since 2021, and the reviews so far have tracked the same strengths. In October 2022, the single Arise drew coverage from several independent music blogs. KIMU described it as a dynamic and cerebral single and noted that fans of Nirvana would be able to connect with it. Gardner told the blog that Arise was close to a protest song, built around themes of injustice.
Thoughts Words Action went further on the writing. It heard verses, pre-choruses and choruses that sounded more progressive and complex than many contemporaries. It also expected the song to appeal to fans of 90s alternative and indie music. Edgar Allan Poets, meanwhile, listed a wider set of influences, from The Jesus Lizard and Slint to PJ Harvey. Taken together, those reviews describe an artist who knows the grunge canon well and is still willing to bend it.
Hullore Has Built a Following Single by Single Since Johnny Appleseed in 2021
The community around Hullore has grown one release at a time. Johnny Appleseed arrived in September 2021, followed by Seizure and The Siren in 2022. After Arise came the four-track Hello in October 2022, and then EP2 in January 2024. More recently, Keepsake came out in April 2026, four months before Don’t Ever Change.
Gardner wrote, performed, produced and mixed Don’t Ever Change himself in Logic Pro. That independence is part of the appeal for this audience, because the record sounds like one person’s taste rather than a committee’s. As a result, the project keeps a direct line to its listeners. There is even an email list on the official site for anyone who wants new music first. Hullore also posts videos on YouTube.
Where to Start With Don’t Ever Change
BestMusic.News’s curator team: “Don’t Ever Change shows that grunge-rooted rock can be optimistic without going soft. The bass groove keeps it moving, and the refrain gives the heavy guitars something to say.”
Start with Don’t Ever Change for the bass groove and the refrain. Then go back to Keepsake, the single that came just before it. Finally, finish with Arise to hear the darker side of the same writer.
Stream Hullore on Spotify and Apple Music, buy the single on Bandcamp, and watch more on the YouTube channel. Then follow Hullore on Instagram, X and Facebook.
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