The Mundanes were a little-known Rhode Island new wave band that John Linnell belonged to prior to his co-founding of They Might Be Giants. When in The Mundanes, John was a blonde. He played the tenor saxophone and keyboard for them.
The Mundanes only had one official release, a 7" single named Make It The Same. This single also contained the songs Funnier Than Love and Empty Boulevards. Other members of The Mundanes were John Andrews, Marsha Armitage, Jonathan Gregg, Dean Lozow, and Kevin Tooley. John Linnell's participation in The Mundanes had ended by 1981, when he moved to Brooklyn and met up with John Flansburgh.
Jonathan Gregg later formed The Lonesome Debonaires in New York City. An early incarnation of the Lonesome Debonaires with John Linnell on accordion and Al Houghton on bass guitar played six gigs with five different drummers in 1985 before succumbing to logistics, mainly Linnell's increasing success with They Might Be Giants and Al's involvement in Dubway Studios.