TRACY BOWDEN, PRESENTER: In case you hadn't noticed, beards are back.

No longer just the facial hair choice of bikers and aging hippies, everyone from Oscar winners to sports stars are sporting Ned Kelly-style beards these days and trendy barber shops are popping up all over the country.

Riding high on the resurgence of facial hair is the Adelaide band The Beards. Four men with lustrous beards who only write songs about, you guessed it - beards.

Monique Schafter reports.

JOHANN BEARDRAVEN, SINGER, THE BEARDS: When we started playing lot of people didn't have beards. It was rather more beardless time back in the mid 2000s.

BAND MEMBER: A dark day for bearded people.

(Extract of song)

THE BEARDS: Would you consider having sex with a bearded man.

MONIQUE SCHAFTER: Forming in 2005, Adelaide rock band The Beards were well ahead of the recent beard revival.

JOHANN BEARDRAVEN: Once we started performing, people went, "Yeah, I could grow a beard," and then they did and now lots of people have beards. We know it's quite fashionable at the moment which we take full credit for.

(Extract of song)

THE BEARDS: Would you consider having sex with a bearded man.

MONIQUE SCHAFTER: Beards are back and the bushier, the better. Over the past couple of years, everyone from Hollywood's A-list to big-name footballers have gotten hairier.

NATHAN MEERS, BARBER: What should we do with your beard today, Jarred?

JARROD, CLIENT: I would like it to run down from the sideburns, straight down again and just continue that growth so it kind of gives it straight.

MONIQUE SCHAFTER: Sydney barber Nathan Meares has been cutting hair for 15 years. He certainly trims up the five beards a day.

JARROD: How was your weekend Nathan?

NATHAN MEERS: Good thank you, very good.

JARROD: Yeah, what did you get up to?

NATHAN MEERS: Oh, just took it easy yesterday was great.

MONIQUE SCHAFTER: Why do you think beards are popular again?

NATHAN MEERS: I think guys are just sick of shaving and sick of that whole metrosexual look and like to be a bit more rugged looking and still be sharp with their hair and a bit more Manly with the beard. All the young guys really love it at the moment, that kind of Ned Kelly look.

MONIQUE SCHAFTER: Facial hair is so popular that men aren't buying raisers like they used to. The parent company of shaving giant Gillette recorded a 17 per cent drop in income for the December quarter last year.

(Extract of song)

THE BEARDS: 'Cause if your dad doesn't have a beard, you've got two mums. Two beardless mums...

MONIQUE SCHAFTER: Why do you love your beard?

JARROD: I'm really proud of it. I think. Not just growing it but I'll take care of it.

MONIQUE SCHAFTER: The trend is so out of control in the world' hipster capital, Brooklyn, New York, that men who struggle to grow an ample beard are forking out up to $US8,500 for facial hair transplants, surgery that helps make beards look thicker and less patchy.

JARROD: I don't know whether it's psychological or whether it's actually happening but I think a man gets extra respect having a beard. I find it when you go into shops, they sort of give you more time of day.

(Extract of song)

THE BEARDS: Growing a beard, growing a beard...

MONIQUE SCHAFTER: About to release their fourth beard-themed album and embark on a massive Australian tour, the world's beardiest ARIA nominated band is riding high on the resurgence of facial hair.

AUDIENCE: Beards, beards, beards...

SINGER: We don't have any more songs.

JOHANN BEARDRAVEN: That's the end of the show now, you guys just chant beard for the next hour...

Pretty much all of our efforts goes into maintaining our beards. Very little of it goes into our songs.

MONIQUE SCHAFTER: The Sydney Facial Hair Club, a social group for whiskery men and their admirers, are just some of the beard's devoted fans.

FACIAL HAIR CLUB PATRON: He takes better care of his beard than I do for my hair.

FACIAL HAIR CLUB PATRON 2: I look like a 12-year-old without a beard.

FACIAL HAIR CLUB PATRON 3: I get it trimmed every couple of months because it does get split ends and everything like normal hair.

FACIAL HAIR CLUB PATRON 4: Especially around Christmas, get lot of kids wanting you to be Santa or Santa's helper.

MONIQUE SCHAFTER: But beard appreciation is nothing new. The Harbour City bears, a subculture of hirsute gay men, have been celebrating hairiness for years.

MARCUS PASTORELLI, PRESIDENT, HARBOUR CITY BEARS: As long as there's been beers there's been beards. What's not to love about hairiness? It's cuddly, furry, warm, yeah, lovable.

HARBOUR CITY BEARS PATRON: So previously, until the past year or so, I just automatically assumed most men with facial hair were gay. It's ruined my gaydar, this proliferation of hirsute males with beards.

HARBOUR CITY BEARS PATRON 2: Absolutely. I still don't have that disconnect.

HARBOUR CITY BEARS PATRON 3: People like it. Always grabbing it and stroke it. Some people like to nudge up against it.

(Extract of song)

THE BEARDS: Would you consider having sex with a bearded man.

BAND MEMBER: Are there any negatives to having a beard? Absolutely not.

JOHANN BEARDRAVEN: Only a beardless person would ask that question.

BAND MEMBER: Anyone with a beard will tell you there's no down sides to having a - except for eating cereal. That's the only one. But aside from that...

BAND MEMBER 3: And soup.

JOHANN BEARDRAVEN: Soup.

BAND MEMBER: I'll give you that. Soup, noodles, cereal, spaghetti.

JOHANN BEARDRAVEN: I was wearing a hoodie and I got my beard caught in my zipper.

(Extract of song)

THE BEARDS: Congratulations, you had sex with a bearded man.

TRACY BOWDEN: Monique Schafter with that report.