Chad Rex

With Paul Westerberg busy writing songs for animated movies about bears, Kansas City's depressed local breakup victims (after rummaging through their basements screaming "Where'd I put my copy of Tim?") would be better served by reaching for Chad Rex's latest, Gravity Works Fire Burns. The blurry, frantic Is it you or me? refrain of the aptly titled "Song for Paul Westerberg to Sing" has that she's-gone-and-I'm-dead-out-of-beer desperation that you just can't get from "The Right to Arm Bears" (an admittedly catchy song). The song also functions as a warning shot from Rex, who must be tired of the comparisons. But if he insists on classically verbified song titles such as "Postcarded" and "Not Arounded," he's going to keep showing up on jukeboxes right next to "Unsatisfied" — which is way easier to remember than Tim. <