"Born out of a sudden and intense burst of light in 2010, The Island of Misfit Toys is Chicago’s best and worst kept musical secret.

The ever-shifting line-up for the band has settled on Anthony Sanders (words, music), Julia Bard (acoustic guitar, vocals), Mark Jaeschke (electric guitar, trumpet, vocals), Evan Loritsch (drums, saxophone, vocals), Lui Macataul (drums, percussion, vocals), Mike Nardone (bass, saxophone, vocals), Danny Radovanovic (keyboards, accordion, vocals), Audrey Sanders (flute, vocals), and Ashlee Stewack (bells, keyboards, vocals). A musical tour-de-force, the band flirts sonically between dozens of genres, spanning rock to folk, indie to slam poetry, mellow acoustics to harmonized hymnals, and beyond - however, for the purposes of brevity, let’s call them “folk-tinged indie rock” and let your ears do the categorizing.

The Island live show is, put simply, nine incredibly talented musicians cutting loose with total abandon while performing passionate, raucous music. Equally comfortable playing in both basements and headlining slots, the band has performed over 100 shows since their inception, some of which with bands you may be familiar with (Manchester Orchestra, Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin, The Veils), a number of festivals you may not be (Pygmalion Festival, Middlewest Fest, Green Fest), three multi-week US tours, and an infamous headlining set at Chicago’s Lincoln Hall. Though these are intensely personal songs on display, guided by frontman Anthony Sanders’ spirited delivery and wordplay, there is an intangible quality to Island’s music that means exactly what you need it to at that precise moment, and captivates you for the rest of their set.

For the time spent between shows, the growing Island of Misfit Toys discography is an equally dynamic tour. Best known for their 2011 full-length “Bear Hair”, the band has also released a six song EP of live and acoustic highlights called “Furiouser & Furiouser”, and a 7” split with Chicago punk trio Nervous Passenger. All of this, however, has been leading up to the next Island of Misfit Toys release, I Made You Something, a sprawling, ambitious record bridging the space between life, friendship, and the afterlife. 

Like a grinning basketball coach hollering at his team to give 110%, The Island of Misfit Toys defy restraint and convention. The band intertwines the unique traits of its diverse members and influences into a single, unified, and remarkable whole, and leaves behind one of the midwest’s most powerful and exciting musical experiences."

- Matthew Nix