Seattle Weekly’s Reverb Festival is right around the corner. And, as usual, there are many fantastic, spacey, shoegaze-bent bands getting ready to grace the stages around Ballard. Witch Gardens are quite possibly the cream of this crop. They’re a smooth, minimalist pop quartet, with simple drum beats, well-honed harmonies, and interesting guitar licks that don’t grow tired or regurgitate a lot of the girl-group hooks prevalent in their genre. Witch Gardens’ June 30th LP debut Alice, Agatha, Branch & Christ definitely has affinities with the latest release from the Cults, but is probably more closely related to the Vivian Girls’ work, albeit a more relaxed, less angsty side of the Darger dubbed band. They play Oct. 8th at the NY Fashion Academy stage from 9:30-10:15pm.