God Forbid (1980s Early Mark Kozelek Project; Missing Completely)

Before Mark Kozelek formed Red house Painters in 1988, he was in a band called God Forbid. The band recorded a very small collection of tracks that may or may not have been sold to concert-goers for the band's shows.

Little to nothing is known about the project. Most Kozelek fans didn't even know the project existed until  a rare interview of early Red Hous Painters material surfaced from 1988 on a torrent. The interview featured Kozelek explaining the early history behind Red House Painters and hinted at some recorded tracks for God Forbid. Seeing as how the vocal performances of the early Red House Painters were considered flat and sub-par, it's possible God Forbid had worse vocal delivery. This would explain why Kozelek has been reluctant to mention the band's existence and why the tracks have never surfaced.

Many fans think the tracks may not even exist. The tracks aren't exactly in high demand considering people understand Kozelek's reason for wanting to keep this material from getting out there. Other people just want to get a hold of the earliest-possible Mark Kozelek recordings just for history sake. Pretty much it's safe to assume  nobody is really losing any sleep over this.