Understanding the dense molecular interstellar medium is key to understanding the local evolution of starbursts. Gas chemistry, with its sensitivity to changes in cloud physical conditions, cloud dynamics, and feedback from massive star formation permit us to deconstruct the state of the dense molecular gas fueling the future evolution of starbursts. I will report on the results from recent high resolution interferometric (BIMA/OVRO/CARMA, VLA, PdBI) surveys of astrochemically important molecules such as C2H, N2H+, CH3OH, HNCO, HNC and HC3N, in a collection of starburst galaxies, including IC 342, Maffei 2, NGC 6946, M 82 and Arp 220. On arcsecond scales, differences in morphology between the various chemical tracers become pronounced, consistent with interactions between massive star feedback (PDRs), galaxy dynamics (shocks) and dense gas properties that change with location inside a galaxy. Correlations between galactic dynamics, chemical tracers and the starburst suggest that such shocks inhibit star formation until dramatic trigger events occur, collapsing the cloud to form stars with impressive efficiency. Moreover the relative importance of the different types of chemistries change with star formation rate and galaxy morphology in a predictable fashion, implying extragalactic chemical studies of dense gas will become routine and powerful tools for studying galaxy evolution over much of the universe in the ALMA and EVLA era.