I'm guessing this was some sort of record company promotional, although from my own research, none of these bands were on the same label or even different subsidiaries of a parent label (Tool: Zoo/BMG; Danger Danger: Epic; Ex Girlfriend: Reprise/Warner). Actually, I'm not even sure what the three bands have in common, although Tool may have shared a bill with Danger Danger early on before finding their niche. Who knows?
The front has the iconic Tool 'Wrench' logo (dominant white screen print consistent with early versions of the shirt), and a parody of the Nike 'Just Do It' slogan. The rear has two separate quotes, each with their own copyright. By no coincidence, Danger Danger did have a release in 1991 called 'Screw It' and Ex Girlfriend's early '90s debut was called 'X Marks The Spot'. The reason for the variations in the actual printed quotes is unclear.
Update 5/2021: I went down the rabbit hole and researched what this could possibly be from. From what I can piece together, this was probably just a test shirt at one printing facility that held the license for various bands. The "Just Don't Bite It" slogan (the exact graphic, actually) is from the back of a circa '90 N.W.A shirt. The Tool wrench needs no explanation, and the inversion of the black and white graphic matches the time period. Girl group Ex Girlfriend's 1991 release X Marks The Spot used the exact same fonts screened here.
iodustv7 on
Never seen this before. Very cool
meetyourmaster on
Thank you for the flames, it's definitely a curious early piece of merchandise!